Russo and Nichols
by cheeses
Summary: Detective Stevie Nichols never thought she'd see they day when she fell for a victim or have 'you go girl' shouted at her by a security guard. M at times R&R STALEX
1. Chapter 1

**Just an idea that popped into my head... hope you take to it, I'm pretty into this idea, Stalex insured, review if you want me to continue.  
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><p>Smoke lingered on the lips of Stevie Nichols. Taking a drag from her cigarette, she snubbed it on the wall of the alley, singeing the tan brick with grey ash and strode down the narrow passage with heavy footsteps. Summer in Manhattan was hell, there was no cloud cover to shade the team from it's relentless heat. Stevie felt her blouse crease and her black trousers absorb the heat, cooking her legs slowly but surely.<p>

"What've we got?" Stevie blew out the smoke and glanced over to the WCSI's working the scene.

"Dead Male, early twenties, healthy... _was_ healthy" her partner Detective Jo Dean grimaced, his chest heaved and his olive skin beaded with sweat. His grey shirt was blotched with sweat.

"Is it that bad?" Stevie had noticed one or two flies roaming the place.

"Hell yeah, the guy was frenzied" his breath was short and his words cut out. Stevie had worked with the guy for two years and had not once seen him look pale at the prospect of a body. It must be bad if Jo was cringing. Stevie pulled at her blouse to stop the material sticking to her skin.

Nichols approached the farthest dumpster and recoiled.

The body lay exposed and bloody.

Flies had already began to eat and nest in the torn flesh. The victims rib cage was on show for the world, the fleshy bones stuck out at odd angels and some had been broken to the extent of hanging off by a chunk of flesh. His face had been badly bruised, now purple and bloody.

Stevie felt her stomach lurch and she turned her back. The stench of flesh burnt her nostrils, she resorted to holding her breath, the summer blaze had increased the decomposition of the unfortunate.

Stevie noticed the W.M.E approaching and waved the skeletal woman over. Doctor Khoo was the only woman or wizard for that fact Nichols had ever met with the capability to love her job even when it was this bad.

"You'll like this one Doc" Stevie huffed and Khoo bowed her head under the yellow tape then almost skipped to where Stevie was stood.

"Nasty" Khoo stood wide eyed for a second, but soon set to work. Stevie held up her hands.

"_Love_ to stay and watch Doc but I need to eat some time today"

She heard Khoo give and small chuckle and walked back over to Dean to see what he had.

"Werewolf" Stevie announced and Dean nodded, his expression had told her straight off. They guy hated them, ever since the Bane murders a few years back the guy had been icky around such topics.

"Seems like it, there the only arse wipes I know who can do that to someone"

"Did you manage to get ID from the body?" Stevie knew it was wishful thinking but sometimes they could identify a body in less than half an hour at the scene.

"Nah, his face is two beat up" Dean motioned to his own face as if Stevie didn't get what he was talking about.

"Finger prints then?" Stevie placed her hands on her hips, the heat was making her hungry and grouchy, she could feel it.

"Nah, it'll take the techs way too long... wanna join me in door to door?"

"No thanks, I don't like the fact that I'd have to show up at someone's door sweating like nun at a porno"

"_Nice_ way to put it" Dean's sarcasm was dry and Stevie shoved the taller man.

"I thought so" Stevie smirked and looked back over her shoulder to witness Khoo holding up a fragment of bone to the light.

"On second thought... I might join you, Khoo is a being a little weirder than normal"

"Maybe it's a full moon" Dean wiggled his fingers as the pair ducked under the tape and out onto the city street.


	2. Chapter 2

**Wizard Competition discarded by the way, Stevie's death still happened, but in due to time her resurrection will be explained. **

**(WCSI- wizard crime scene investigator)**

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><p>Alex pulled herself groggily from a self induced coma.<p>

Her skull throbbed as her eyes peeled open to face the day. Scanning her apartment she lugged her body from the sofa and stood uneasily.

At twenty two she expected herself to be living the artist dream, going to instalments and bantering with people who wore stripes with everything.

Not sleeping on the sofa again from a party and not with someone hammering on the door. The angry thuds echoed and split the smoky air.

Alex stumbled over empty pizza boxes and beers cans until she fell heavily onto the wall next to the door, resting her aching body on it until she summoned the strength to wrench it open.

"You won't believe it!" Harper burst into the apartment in a whirl wind of ribbons and her voice made Alex recoil into the comfort of the wall.

"Oh my God, it's disgusting in here!" Harper turned around shrilly and pointed at Alex. "What have you been doing?"

"Sleeping... until, a minuet ago" Alex responded dryly and Harper crossed her arms tightly across her chest.

"Well good thing you've still got all those cleaning products I sent to last Christmas" Harper beelined for the kitchen.

"I have?" Alex peered around to see Harper rooting through the cupboards and junk to get to them.

"Yes, I made sure you kept them... and, you've not even opened them" Harper put her hands on her hips and held up the gift bag consisting of a mop, sponge, cloths and a assortment of brightly coloured cleaning chemicals.

"It's even got the bow on" Harper prodded it and narrowed her eyes.

Alex yawned and ran a hand through her hair to brush away the strands of hair cascading down her face.

"You need to get a job"

"You need to stop acting like my Mom" Alex snapped and kicked a few cans out of her path as she sat on the sofa again.

"Ever since Mason you've been on a downward spiral" Harper added a matter of factly while unwrapping the cleaning products.

"I don't need him"

"You need someone... and a shower, you smell like a dead goat"

"_Gee_, you're being _so_ supportive"

"It's my job, you go and have a shower, I'll clean up your hovel" Harper motioned around the mess of the apartment. Alex huffed and limped through her apartment and wrestled with the bathroom door until it opened.

Alex peeled off her clothes, letting last nights garments fall to the tiled floor. She tugged on the chain to turn on the water, groggily stretching and shivering due to the tiles bite of frost on the soles of her feet. Climbing into the bath tub she proceeded to pull the lever that let cold water run down on her. The raven haired woman recoiled and yelped as the icy water rained with heavy pressure down into the tub with a controlled jet, creating a gushing sound.

Alex timidly stood back under the water, prior to a metal curse and pep talk.

_Don't be a pussy, get under there._

Alex rinsed her body of the smoke and beer than had possessed her, her hair stuck to her olive skin.

The night was a blur of flashing lights, a hurried encounter in a bathroom stall with a guy called Hank and a alcohol. Alex cringed, the events merged, she could no longer pick out which one came first. She was assured that if Hank had happened first, she'd gone into desperate mode... again.

Alex groaned and pressed her body to the cold, grey tiles of the bathroom wall.

_Mason_.

Alex closed her eyes and slid down the wall so she could rest her head on her knees and let the water rain on her.

Rain seemed the only weather Alex would enjoy.

Dean's voice cut over the hum of the city.

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><p>"Nice neighbourhood" he spoke flatly. The Wizard Homicide Detective was referring back to the fact everyone on the street had shouted abuse at them for being 'cops', mortals never saw anything when it came to a wizard murder, but it was routine to ask then knock them out if they did see anything 'weird'. Stevie grinned at him while tying her shoulder length, unruly waves of hair back into a elastic band. The blond of her bangs had faded years ago, now chocolate brown was the only colour she supported. The humidity of the day had caused her hair to curl.<p>

"That's gonna hurt like a bitch when you pull it out" Dean added, pulling his mobile from his pocket to check for any missed calls.

Stevie twitched uncomfortable with the fact the summer heat was beating down on them.

"I can deal with a little less hair"

Nichols and Dean walked back to the crime scene, none the wiser but hotter and hungrier.

"Nobody witnessed anything they were all to busy raising fifteen kids" Stevie announced ducking under the yellow tape, Dean followed.

"Each?" a WCSI chuckled at her comment, knowing all to well about this side of town.

"Yeah" Dean chuckled stuffed his hands into his pocket.

"I could never have kids" Stevie blew her fringe from her eyes and stood around watching Khoo happily instructing the techs to get a body bag among other equipment.

"Joining me back at the lab Nichols?" Khoo pulled the bloody latex gloves from her hands and dusted the power from her hands that they'd left behind.

"Yeah, it's cold so I'm there" Stevie jerked her chin in a boyish nod.

"I'll have fun with this case" Khoo grinned and packed up her equipment, her day dress riding up to expose more than Stevie would have liked, even though Khoo was a attractive woman, Stevie didn't know how to handle attraction well.

"Murder isn't fun Khoo" Dean scoffed and was busy jotting things down while another officer told him all the details.

"It depends on the person" Khoo stated and Stevie rose her eyebrows.

"I'll see you later Khoo" Stevie wafted her hand as the M.E left.

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><p>Alex walked out of the bathroom clad in a towel and smirked as she saw Harper running around with a trash bag and pink washing up gloves on her hands.<p>

"I wonder if you're depressed" Harper stopped and turned to her friend.

"Oh _sure_" Alex huffed and rolled her eyes. Walking into her room, Alex dawned on underwear then a pair of black jean shorts, a dark grey v-neck t-shirt and a pair of converse.

"Where are you going?" Harper took in Alex's appearance, her hair was still damp.

"Getting food... I doubt I have anything to eat but pop tarts"

"You eat those things?" Harper grimaced.

"Yeah and happily enjoy them, but right now I need an ice coffee, you want anything?"

"For you not to be lazy" Harper grumbled and Alex grabbed twenty dollars from her money jar hidden behind the toaster.

"So that's an ice tea then" Alex stuffed it into her pocket and strode from the apartment. The one thing she had learnt while growing older or growing mouldy as Max frequently quoted, she had to fend for herself, if she was lazy, she'd die. So the trip for food was almost daily, luckily her apartment building was across the street from a air conditioned Mexican store.

Alex jogged down the steps and out into the blinding afternoon sun.  
>"Christ" she felt the wave of heat hit her once chilled skin. The coffee shop was a ten minuet walk away, so she'd head there first, then get stuff for the week commencing.<p>

The traffic was slow in this part of town, a few dump trucks trundled past as well as other cars, but not much happened on the roads.

Alex crossed the street and felt the heat of the day dry her hair in no time.

The large wooden sign reading _Shake- a- shack_ was just ahead, shimmering in the heat radiating from the sidewal.

Pushing on the door, Alex entered the smell of coffee welcomed her in a friendly embrace. A few customers littered the shop, but they were chatting lowly under the sound of the machines producing the drinks Alex adored.

"Hey Guss" Alex called out and a well built Italian/American man poked his head up from under the counter to greet his number one customer.

"Al, good to see ya" his thick accent charmed the raven haired wizard as she walked over to the large wooden slab that acted as a counter. The lights hung from the ceiling in rusty metal cages and swung with the fans whirring on over time.

The walls were bare brick and many of the tables were made out of old wood from scrap yards. Guss was an ex architect so had some idea of how to kit out a small indie coffee shop.

The hum of blues dusted the background calmly.

"I'm guessing my girl would like a ice coffee?" his jolly smile made Alex want to hug his large bulky body.

"And an ice tea for Harper" she added and ran a hand through her hair.

"You got it" he beamed and set to work, humming as he did so.

"Did eh, did ya here 'bout that body down on 12th?"

"No" Alex puzzled, pulling her brow into a frown.

"Yeah, nasty work, Vinnie told me, came rushin' in all like 'Boss there's a dead guy, can I getta day off? Little bastard, always lookin' for an excuse"

Alex grinned at his ranting but was still taken back by the news.

"How bad was this guy?"

"I dunno Al, Vinnie ain't one for details" Guss turned back around with two take away translucent cups for the icy beverages.

"Here" Alex handed him the $5.50 and Guss screwed his face up.

"Half the price, Al you're like family, $2.75"

Alex shrugged and let Guss sort out the exchange to his liking.

"I need a job" Alex sighed and sipped at the icy coffee, feeling the bitterness snap at her tongue.

"You can have one here Al" Guss grinned, scratching his head.

"Nah, thanks for the offer though Guss... I need something that'd keep me busy"

"You busy?" Guss leant back and let out a rumble of laughter.

"Fine" Alex huffed, excepting his challenge. "I'll get a _busy_ job and be good at it, as well as turn up for it" Alex drank more of her coffee and Guss narrowed his eyes.

"You're on Al"

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><p>The cold air of the morgue was bliss to Stevie's over heated skin. The whir of the machinery backed up there conversation.<p>

After hearing Dean wretch up his guts for the third time in the space of half an hour, Stevie decided to kick him out of the lab.

Khoo had been on board for that decision, the guy was great in the field, but one to one with a dead body and he lost all dignity.

"So a werewolf defiantly did this?" Stevie had her arms crossed over her chest.

"Yep, it was frenzied and half of his innards have gone, torn from his body, this guy was someone's late night bite" Khoo had drained away the dried blood and the body was left white and exposed. Stevie shuddered, that's what she hated, people lost all dignity through death, murder was the worst becouse you were examined, besides Khoo hadn't even bothered to cover up the vics privates, no wonder she found this to be a hellish ordeal.

"Any prints from the body?" Stevie tapped her foot.

"Ask the lab for that, but I tell you, this guy must have meant something to the killer, even if he was lunch, no werewolf would have done this much damage, I mean look" Khoo rolled the body over, the sound of the stiff limbs made a thud on the metal gurney.

"This guy will need some work done if it's an open casket funeral" Khoo sucked in air through her teeth and Stevie leant in to examine his bruised back.

"You see these marks?" Stevie motioned to them, resting on his lower back just above his butt.

"Oh yeah, I did a rape kit becouse of the bruising, he was raped pre mortem, used, abused, eaten"

Stevie made a unsettled whine.

"We can use the seamen right?"

"Yep, it's being tested as we speak my dead Nichols"

"I'm gonna get this bastard" she rolled her neck and Khoo nodded along with the Wizard Detective.

"Please do"


	3. Chapter 3

**The contact between Mason and Alex is rushed, sorry about that... this chapter is a little dark.**

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><p>Alex had managed to keep the ice tea cold to through the trip to the coffee shop and store all due to the aid of her wand, but balancing a grocery bag and a Harper's drink while trying to jog up the stairwell to her apartment wasn't going to be as successful.<p>

Alex struggled with the lock on her door, knowing Harper she'd be in cleaning mode so wouldn't answer her knocks.

Jamming her key into the lock stiffly, she lent to the left, in attempt to balance the weight evenly.

Alex grunted in irritation as the door wouldn't budge.

"You always did have a problem with the door" Mason's voice trailed behind her and Alex stood bolt up.

The raven haired wizard turned around and took in his figure, the smooth waves of his accent and his charming grin. An ache to size of a bolder jackhammered into her heart.

"Well don't stand there and help me" Alex grumbled, hiding behind her wall of dryness. Mason nodded once, then dashed over to man the door.

Upon entrance to her apartment their eyes fell on Harper who was ranting over the whirr of the hoover.

"She's not changed" his voice was deeper, laced with a smirk the man took the ice tea from Alex's hands and tapped Harper on the shoulder.

"Ah!" Harper recoiled and spotted the ice tea in his hand, swiped it from his grasp and turned off the hoover.

"Nice to see you too Harper" Mason rocked back on his heels and inhaled through his teeth making a 'shh' sound.

Alex set the grocery bag down on the now spotless counter and lent back. Mason grinned at her and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Harper" they both spoke in unison as the sound of the girl's slurping distracted them both from their true intention.

"I'll just..." Harper motioned to Alex's bedroom and shuffled from the room to intentionally lock herself in there.

Mason rubbed the back of his neck and gave a shy smile. Alex bit at her bottom lip, tugging at the loose skin with her teeth. These tiny habits seemed to be the only transaction for 30 seconds.

"I was in town..." Mason started and Alex lolled her head back.

"You're always, _just in_ town Mason" her voice was laced with snide undertone, the small smile playing on her lips was to make him feel welcome physically even if mentally he wasn't.

"My art is taking off, I can never be in..."

"_One place_, I know that" Alex crossed her arms across her chest tightly and narrowed her eyes.

Mason gritted his teeth.

"Don't be like this" he warned and he gulped harshly. "I want you" his eyes melted over Alex's form and a coy smile appeared on his lips.

"Not _just_ for the weekend this time" Alex huffed and turned to look away.

"I never..." Mason jutted his finger out but was hindered when Alex moved over to him.

"Just... don't leave this time" Alex knew it was bad recoiling in his tangles, the warning screamed in the back of her mind, but Mason knew how to break her down until she was a pile of goo.

Touching her hand to his face, Mason grinned and pulled her in closer.

"I'll stay as long as I'm wanted" his voice melted into Alex's lips.

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><p>Stevie found that Khoo had started calling her 'my dead Nichols' far too often for it to be a simple joke. Khoo was weird, but calling her dead was far too weird even for the M.E.<p>

While carrying a beige file to Dean, Stevie had a rousing suspicion that their dear resident Doctor knew way more than she let on.

Tapping the file against her thigh Stevie took the stairwell opposed to the elevator. The cold walls relived her skin of more itchy heat that had returned on her short trip to the labs and evidence locker.

She'd known a killing like this before. A year ago near Chicago a guy had died with the same M.O, Stevie had managed to pull up the information from the portal.

She knew she needed more evidence before she could link the two cases apart from the apparent cause of death, but it was still a good hunch and a damn weird coincidence if the cases wern't related. Stevie always felt compelled to examine cases like this, where in life did two threads cross? Rarely.

Stevie walked into the bull pen, holding the file up to Dean as the Detective rose his head from some papers.

"You'd think we'd be able to use magic for this shit" he grumbled writing up a report of the door to door. Dean dropped his pen and flexed his aching hand.

"That's where the glamour ends" Stevie made a waving action above her head as she spoke the word glamour and patted his shoulder in mock sympathy. She then dropped the file in front of him, it landed with a slap onto the desk. "Take a peek"

"Don't mind ifa do" he merged his words in a mock Texan slang, to lighten his morbid outlook on the job.

Stevie stood to his right, tapping her foot as she watched him scan the papers.

"Same M.O? You ruling these two as linked Nichols?"

"I dunno, that's why I'm showing you" Stevie ruffled her hair and yawned.

"We'd need more of a solid connection... was a rape kit done on this guy?"

"Page 5"

"Ah, right... yep this guy was abused, beaten and eaten"

"Link?" Stevie tapped her fingers on the desk. Dean nodded and handed her the file back.

"I'll contact the Chicago sector... see if they have anything else, like another link"

"I'll go and see if the techs have got anything now"

"Just becouse Khoo is down there" Dean leant back in his chair and smirked. Stevie sneered at him.

"Don't make it sound dirty"

"You my friend have a crush on the little weirdo"

"You can't tell you're ass from you're elbow, so shut the fuck up" Stevie punched his shoulder and walked back down to the labs. Stevie had gotten used to his teasing, ever since Khoo and her had began to talk, Dean thought they'd make a 'cute' couple. Stevie rolled her neck. She wasn't cute and she sure as hell wouldn't let anyone know if she did like their resident M.E Khoo.

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><p>Alex noticed a force under Mason's grip. Pressed up against the kitchen counter and pinned to his body, Alex struggled to find freedom under his harsh assault of kisses.<p>

"Mason" Alex tore her lips away from his and winced as his eyes had turned black.

"What is it love?" his voice was sickeningly sweet to Alex's ears. This was a bad idea.

"Not now" Alex tried to move away but he clamped his hands own on her wrists.

"Harper won't have to know" Mason nuzzled her neck, grinning in the knowledge it was her weak spot.

Alex shrunk away from his 'affection'.

Vivid flashbacks played like fragments in her head from the action. He done this before, the last time he went away, he'd seemed withdrawn... angry at the mere mention of stopping what they were doing. Now he was back to finished what he'd started... her.

"She, she might hear" Alex gulped, her throat turning dry.

"Come on love... don't be so prude" his voice curled in her mind. Alex shuddered under his heated touch.

"I'm not prude" Alex frowned, she hated the fact that he's stated an obvious lie, a challenge she'd except, to prove him wrong. Mason licked the exposed skin of her neck, smug with his plan.

"Then prove it" he hummed and light Alex's stubborn side.

Alex shifted so she was perched on the edge of the counter and wrapped her legs around his hips. Mason let her have her freedom of movement.

Wrapping her hands around the back of his neck, she played with the hairs there.

"Prude is one thing I'm not" she purred and moulded into his web.

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><p>Watching a few techs flit around the labs like Bee's always made Stevie feel like she was slower in comparison to their rushed, jaunty movements. Their white lab coats flowed like capes as they all moved to the equipment intended to carry out tests.<p>

"The victim, was Hank Scott, a mortal, 25 years of age" a red haired lab tech handed her the results and watched eagerly as her trained eyes read the information to confirm his statement. "The rape kit proved to be handy, we've only got one sample so far"

"So far?"

"Oh yeah, Hank was a busy guy and judging by the alcohol in his blood, the guy was probably under the influence of some heavy booze while it all went on"

Stevie grimaced at the thought.

"Ring me when the other results come through"

"Literally" he smirked and Stevie gave a husky chuckle.

"_Sure _just call me"

Stevie exited the labs, pushing the heavy glass doors out of her way and jogged back up to the bull pen, to gather more information on Hank Scott.

Stevie sat at her desk and knew she'd have to go through the mortal database to get the address of their vic.

Dean was still scribbling down the report and looked over to her.

"Are you gonna help me with this report or is it just gonna be one sided?"

"I'll do it later" Stevie wafted her hand over to him and Dean shrugged, knowing Nichols would have to get it done no matter what she tried to do to pull out of it.

Stevie found him in not time, her past of computer hacking had aided her tiny inquiry.

"Come on, the vic lived a block from the scene" Stevie got up and stood over Dean.

"Aright, I'm comin'"

The sun had started to calm it's harsh light, now there was some cloud cover, the heat seemed bearable. Stevie and Dean flashed into a near by alley, next to the victims apartment.

Stevie rolled her neck and slotted her wand back into holster on her belt, as well as having a gun perched right next to it.

"Did the database say he was married?" Dean spoke as they walked from the alley and out onto the street to pursue the abode of the diciest.

"Nope" Stevie was the first to climb the steps to the apartment building, Dean followed on her heel.

"Girl friend then?"  
>"Nope"<p>

"Dog?"

"Why are you so hung up about who or what the guy lived with?" Stevie frowned and him. Dean shrugged.

"I just don't wanna break down a door if it means walking in on someone"

"If there is someone in there, they'll answer" Stevie motioned to her wand and grinned evilly.

Dean sighed and they both walked into the lobby.

"Can I help you?" the door man poked his head up from the C. screen to stare at them

"Detective Nichols and this is Detective Dean, we're looking for Hank..." Stevie turned to her partner for savour. Dean gave the door man a smooth grin.

"Scott"

"Yeah Hank Scott" Stevie played it cool. The door man's pale complexion made him appear ratty in his grey suit.

"Ah yeah... 3rd floor, number 12" his words were timid and his hands flexed.

"Did you see him last night?" Stevie slotted her thumbs into the belt loops on her trousers.

"I only saw him go out around 6, I've not seen him since...anything up?"

"He was found dead" Dean cut in and the door man flinched.

"Really?"  
>"Yeah, we'll need you're tapes from the past week...see if anything went on" Stevie added and the door man nodded.<br>"I'll get you the back ups" he bolted into the back room. Stevie looked around the grand marble lobby and saw a bowl of mints resting on the oak counter. Plucking one from the comfort of the tray.

"You dunno who coulda touched them" Dean scrunched his nose in disgust as Stevie popped it into her mouth.

"I don't care" Stevie ran a hand through her hair and rocked on her heels.

* * *

><p>"Shit, Mason" Alex yelped and he slammed his hand over her swollen lips.<p>

"Shh" he grunted and jerked his body faster, in turn making Alex's lower back bruise against the granite of the counter. By now she was sure some patches of skin had broken, the tender skin was stinging.

His nails dug into her cheek and he had his other hand pinning her arms behind her back. This awkward position meant half of their clothes were hanging off and the sound of Alex's body slamming into the counter was harsh even to her pounding ears.

"Don't fucking move, love" Mason growled, she felt his voice rumble from his chest.

Alex closed her eyes and whimpered as he finished his assault and let her body stagger as he tore away.

Alex propped herself up limply on the counter, her shaking limbs not supporting her now dead weight body. Mason tugged his pants back up and the swish of his belt and zipper being fasted all grazed against Alex's still wounded body.

"That was lovely" he kissed Alex's clammy forehead and helped her dress.

Alex gulped and nodded, wordless and still in pain, she just moved away from him to fix herself a stern glass of whiskey, it'd numb everything so her pain would subside in due time.

"Let me get you it" Mason pushed her aside and fixed the drinks.

Alex tugged her clothes back into place and eased herself onto the sofa. She rested her head on the sofa arm, her brows pulled into a frown, her eyes threatening tears.

"Here you go" Mason sat heavily next to her, sloshing the golden brown whiskey over her lap and chuckling. Alex didn't respond but just took the glass and downed it. She'd happily drown in the stuff if it meant being numb and distant from the emotional turmoil Mason put her through.

Harper still hadn't emerged from her room, Alex figured she'd be cleaning so abandoned the matter quickly.

The sound of a ringtone cut through their silence.

Mason grabbed his phone and answered the call.

"Ah, hi Rich, yeah, I'll be there in a second... see you" Mason ended it abruptly and stole a rough kiss from Alex's now chapped and coppery tasting lips.

"I'll be back in a little while" he got up and left, leaving behind all the wreckage that was now Alex.

She just let him practicably rape her with in the space of twenty minuets of entering her apartment.

"Oh God" Alex whimpered and let her head fall into her quaking hands.

She wouldn't wallow, she'd confront him and tell him that'd he'd played a little too rough.

It was always easier said than done.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope you enjoy this chapter**

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><p>Stevie and Dean took the elevator to the 3rd floor.<p>

Dean tapped his feet and Stevie rolled the mint around her mouth as the elevator moved upward.

"Do you realise we're gonna have to look through a weeks worth of footage?" Dean spoke, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Stevie scoffed.

"Luckily I took a media course after I left high school" Stevie grinned "I don't mind"

"Really? From what I heard you were a handful" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"And I'm not now?" Stevie smirked and Dean chuckled.

"Well played"

The elevator stopped at the 3rd floor and they made their way out, scanning the room's either side of them, Stevie rolled her neck.

"Take Hank's apartment then a door to door" Stevie headed in the direction in which room twelve would be and Dean followed.  
>"A door to door <em>again<em>, Nichols you fuckin' owe me one"

"Fine" Stevie turned around, walking backwards for a few seconds while she spoke. "I'll do your paper work and mine for both the door to doors"

"You're a pal"

"And you're a pain in the ass" Stevie came to Hank's apartment and wiggled the door handle, the door was open. Drawing her gun, she held it to her side and signalled with a nod to Dean he should take the other side.

Knocking the door open fully, Stevie went in first, holding her gun out and scanned the space around her.

Empty take out boxes littered the kitchen and living room.

"Clear" Stevie sounded and Dean kicked open the bedroom door.

"Urg Christ the guy was a nasty bastard" he grimaced and walked into the bomb sight of sheets and clothes.

"No hygiene I'm guessing" Stevie had pulled on blue latex gloves and picked up an empty condom wrapper.

"We got underwear over here, ladies underwear"

Stevie dropped the wrapper and rolled her jaw.

"The lab did say this guy was 'busy'"

"I'll call WCSI" Dean pulled out his phone and made the call quickly. Stevie walked from the bedroom and scanned the rest of the apartment, there was no evidence the guy had left the place in a rush or if there was a struggle in here.

"Dean!" Stevie called her partner in and picked up a flyer.

"We gotta party animal here" she mused and Dean smirked.

"Emphasis on the animal part"

" Bar Holland, that's just a block from here" Stevie noted, reading more information upon the greasy paper.

"Christ, today's not gonna let up is it?"

"Does it ever on a case?"

* * *

><p>Harper resurfaced from Alex's room, a pink flush upon her skin.<p>

"Where's Mason gone?" her voice brought Alex's out of her trance.

"Yeah, he fucked off with his friends" Alex spat and hugged herself.

"Hey, what happened?" Harper dropped the duster she'd been holding and sat next to Alex.

"Mason happened" Alex rested her head on Harper's shoulder. "I don't want to see him again Harper"

"Then don't"

"It's easier said than done" Alex whispered and Harper embraced her friend. Then her eyes brushed over the bruising on her friends wrists.

"How did you do... did Mason do that?"

Alex cringed and pulled away, ashamed Alex built up a lie.

"No... I think I'm allergic to the stuff you're cleaning with, I put my hands on her counter and the marks just showed up... all pink and stuff" Alex glanced at the now purpling marks.

"Oh" Harper narrowed her eyes and shrugged. "Go have a shower then"

Alex nodded and gulped away the threatening tears. Her body yearned for sleep.

Peeling off her clothes, Alex inspected the bruising on her lower back in the mirror. Her suspicions had been right, the skin had broken in several places and small grazes were visible, crusted over with blood.

Alex winced and turned on the shower, stepping in carefully, she let the water scold her skin but kept it at the boiling temperature.

The pain soon subsided into an heated itch, she sucked in a shaky breath.

The heat would sterilise her, it would cleanse her of the pain Mason and inflict fresh waves of burning across her skin, rightful pain.

* * *

><p>Stevie felt her phone buzz as she watched the WCI's bag evidence.<p>

"Detective Nichols" she answered and stepped out of the room and ducked under the tape that lined the doorway.

"_We got more results_"

"Go ahead"

"_Well we took samples from... him and we got the result of Alex Russo and Julie Uma, both are wizards. And from the seamen, Mason Greyback, a purebred werewolf_"

"Did you say... Alex _Russo_?"

"_You know her?_"

"I know the name" Stevie thought back to Max Russo, she'd arrested him a few years back for drinking.

"Get VanPaul to send information to me about Greyback, Russo and Uma"

"Got it, addresses and stuff like that"

"Yeah, s_tuff_ like that" Stevie rolled her eyes and ended the call. "Dean, we've got leads"

"Fuck yeah" Dean broke away from the WCSI's and jogged over to her.

"Who've we got?"

"Three suspects" Stevie clipped her phone back into in holder on her belt and slapped his arm. "Come on, we gotta head down to that bar"

"Why you said you got the suspects?"

"I want a beer" Stevie mumbled and Dean followed.

"Amen to that my friend"

Stevie had finished a half pint of beer when her phone buzzed again, Dean was still finishing his. Both of them froze, knowing they weren't supposed to drink on duty had given them an ounce of childish buzz.

Stevie answered the call.

"I'm sending you Russo's address via text, the portal connection over heated, VanPaul took it upon himself to get hold of Uma for you, he was actually pumped to do work" Khoo's voice was canny, Stevie fathomed that it was becaouse she was in the lab.

"Why are you sending me in the info Khoo? VanPaul shoulda done it or one of the tech's called before and gave me the details"

"Just becouse I'm the M.E doesn't mean I can't do anything else you know, sheesh" Khoo's voice became shrill.

"Right, sorry, sorry, thank you I guess"

"You guess?" Khoo snapped.

"Fine, thank you Khoo you are the best" she spoke woodenly.

"Enthusiasm will be expected next time Nichols" Khoo then hung up, momments later a text came through.

_Here you go you ass face. _

_Russo- 56, Grange Apart Building._

_Greyback- 101 Oswall Place, in BOSTON_

Stevie rolled her eyes at Khoo's comment and glanced at the time.

"Looks like we're going to Russo's place first"

"Why not Greyback's?" Dean downed the last of his beer and they both rose from their seats.

"He lives in Boston, so I'm gonna sure have fun interrogating him" Stevie put her phone away and the pair made their way out of the bar and out onto the streets.

* * *

><p>Alex came out of the shower and winced, her skin was bright pink and sensitive as she wrapped a towel around her bare body.<p>

She felt like and looked like a bruised apple.

Her hair was plastered to her heated features and she rubbed the towel over the soaked hair to dry it enough so she could let it air dry.

Alex dried her self off to the best of her ability due to the sensitivity of her skin and pulled her clothes back on. Wrenching the bathroom door open, Alex stepped out.

"Alex, I have to go..." Harper motioned on to the door and Alex nodded, the girl was in the midst of texting someone back as she spoke. "It's Zeke, he's having some issues painting the sitting room back home" Harper shook her head. Her and Zeke had gotten engaged a year after Harper finished High School, ever since then they'd been piratically living like a married couple. Zeke had a job as a science fiction script writer so they had no issues when it came to money,which Alex found herself envious of constantly. Living in a one bedroom apartment with a sofa and broken TV to call her own sure made everything else look like a mansion.

"Yeah sure, see you soon" Alex hugged herself and watched Harper leave in a hurry, feeling considerably down market now she'd mentioned Zeke. Sitting down heavily on the couch, Alex repositioned herself so she was lying down and felt her body relax into the comfort of it's cushions.

Alex closed her eyes and took three deep breaths before falling into a much needed slumber.

Her slumber was soon interrupted as a hurried pounding sound reverberated around the apartment. Alex sat up and winced as her left side ached.

"Coming" her voice was weak and had to crawl from her throat to reach her lips.

The pounding continued and Alex opened the door only to be greeted with Mason, holding a bottle of wine and a sly smile playing on his lips.

"To celebrate" he stated and barged in. Alex gritted her teeth and left the door open.

"What are you celebrating? The fact that you raped me before or the fact that you think you own me, either way it's not really a celebration with you" Alex felt anger bubble in the pit of her stomach as she spat out the words. He'd hurt her to many times, now she'd put a stop to it, even if she couldn't even tell Harper about it.

"What?" Mason set down the bottle and turned to her, the bipolar attitude caught him off guard.

"You heard me, Mason, get out" Alex placed her hand on her wand in case. Mason rolled his neck.

"You welcomed me in here earlier and in the space of what... an hour and a half you're asking me to leave?" his voice rose and his eyes soon turned black within the simple blink of his eyes.

"Yeah" Alex stated bluntly, shaken by this change in appearance but stood her ground.

Mason marched up to her, his lean frame towering over her.

"You seemed to like this" Mason spat and ran his hand down her front to grasp one of her breast.

"Back off" Alex pulled out her wand and pointed it at his chest to hinder any more movement. Mason paused for a second looking a the wand as if it were a twig.

"What about this?" Mason let his other hand clench Alex's hip. Alex's yelped as he applied more pressure. Alex gulped and tried to think of a spell to knock him out, but it was late upon arrival as his actions beat whatever words she would have liked to produce.

"Or fucking this?" Mason shoved her back into the wall and slammed the door in one fluid movement. Alex tired to shove him off, but he slapped her wand out of her hand and tackled her into a pained kiss.

"Get off" Alex fought, her arms lashing out and beating his chest. The sound of the hollow hits just made him chuckle and tighten his grip. Alex winced as the vibes of pain wrecked her nerves.

"You're not going anywhere and neither am I... I will be wanted Alex, you want me again" he whispered and bit down on her bottom lip, drawing blood from the plump skin.

Alex writhed, wearing herself down.

"You taste good" he groaned and she felt the discomfort of his crotch grinding into hers. Alex let out a whimper of grief and he counteracted it by thrusting up at her.

"No" Alex repeated the word in muffled cries as Mason then tugged her shorts down roughly, catching the skin of her right hip under the force of his developing claws.

Blood rose to the surface of the graze and smudged across the olive skin.

"Mason, no" Alex tried to beat him away but to no avail, he soon removed his jeans, they slid down to his knees.

"I'll be quick" he growled and tugged down his boxers.

* * *

><p>Stevie looked up at the apartment building and glanced at Dean.<p>

"I'm guessing the fourth floor" Stevie opened the door and let Dean in first.

Upon entrance to the building, Stevie glanced around the empty lobby.

"Come on, I'll take the stairwell" Stevie pressed the fire exit door and hid in it's shadow so she could flash to the 4th floor with no questions asked. Dean to the elevator to make their arrival and trip to the 4th floor seem legitimate on the security tapes.

Stevie heard struggling from the apartment door. What sounded like grunts and pained screams were dumbed out but still audible. Stevie pulled out her gun with a sharp click. Pressing her back to the wall she inhaled and knocked on the door, three solid times.

"Police open up"

Mason had his hand clamped around Alex's neck and squoze upon hearing the voice.

"Did you fucking call them?" Mason's accent was harsh.

Alex's tears stained her flushed cheeks and gasped out a strangled no before Mason thrust into her again, harder and faster.

Stevie heard the elevator ping and Dean walked out and saw Stevie once again with her gun drawn.

"You can't help yourself can..." the screaming reached his ears in no time. "Oh fuck" Dean drew his weapon and nodded once to Stevie to kick down the door, she did so with ease, the split of the wood broke their stealth. The pair barged into the apartment.

Stevie's eyes fixed on the now half werewolf, who appeared to preoccupied raping the Russo to care that they'd just broke down the door.

"Get off her now!" Stevie barked and held her gun in aim at his lower back, she wanted his guy alive.

"Fucking hell" Dean sounded wincing at the scene. Mason threw Alex away from him, letting her body collapse on the floor like a useless tool he no longer needed. Alex's head slammed into the coffee table as he did so. Stevie dropped her aim to aid the woman.

Mason tackled the off guard officer and the sound of their bodies hitting the floor made Dean wince and flummox on how to shoot him in the struggle of limbs.

Stevie grunted and kicked him square in the chest. Mason growled at her attack and landed two steady punches to the right side of her face. The skin to skin contact split the flesh covering Stevie's jaw and the second insured blood, it clipped her eye also.

"Dean" Stevie shouted, her voice strangled as she graced Mason's jaw with an uppercut. The werewolf recoiled and fell onto his back, Stevie leapt up kicked him in his exposed organ and as he yelped, she winded him by stamping on his chest.

"Put some fucking pants on" Stevie spat and Dean aided the arrest. Stevie dashed to Alex's side, the woman whimpered and was curled into the foetal position.

"Dean... ambulance" Stevie hissed and slotted her gun back into it's holster.

"Hey, hey sweetie, it's okay, you're safe" Stevie fell to her knees and pulled Alex to her, resting her head on her lap. Alex gulped and looked up at a pair of light brown eyes, softly staring down at her.

Stevie brushed her thumb over Alex's cheek, feeling the damp tear stains under her skin. Alex leant into the touch and Stevie hugged her closer.

"It's gonna be okay, I've got you"sniffing away angry tears, Stevie looked back at Dean who was now pointing his gun now at the writhing werewolf.

"I want you too keep him away from me" Alex's words were small and raspy. Stevie nodded and let their hands intertwine, Alex's fingers were shaking as they moulded with Stevie's strong grasp.

"He's not coming anywhere near you or near anyone else" Stevie assured her and cupped the side of Alex's face.


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you enjoy it. **

The mutterings of idol conversation filled the waiting room. The false, white light that beamed from the panels on the ceiling made Stevie's grazed skin seem more intense, like the wounds were being displayed for the wondering eyes of the nurses.

The sterile stench that hummed from the walls irritated Stevie's nostrils and she found herself sniffing quite often.

Sitting on a plastic chair, Stevie looked down at the floor. She was sure she'd never felt so shitty, she'd joined Alex Russo in the ambulance to keep her away from the temptation of shooting Mason.

Stevie clenched her fists and breathed out.

"Detective" a nurse walked up to her, clad in a white lab coat. Stevie rose her head to meet the woman's gaze. The nurse winced at the state of Stevie's features, the bruising around her eye and the split skin on her cheek bone had gotten worse.

"Miss Russo wants you to be present when we do the rape kit"

"Rape kit... sure... sure thing" Stevie stood up and followed her through the buzz of nurses and Doctors.

Alex had been put in a private ward. Stevie stood in the door way and her eyes scanned over Alex, her hair had been tied back and she was clad in a gown. Stevie rolled her jaw and inhaled, large purple marks were visible on her neck, these marks provoked Stevie's anger.

She tensed and fixed her gaze down at the lino flooring, she walked in as if it was a funeral march.

Alex acknowledged her with a shy smile. Stevie tried to smile back, but her mouth wouldn't budge from the grimace that had been hacked into her features.

Alex nodded along with the Doctor's words and Stevie winced as she tilted her head the side to expose the deep, jagged cut above her brow, the blood had dried and the Doctor was quick to dab it away.  
>"We're going to have to take photo's of the bruising Miss Russo, for evidence may you need it in court" a nurse added, her voice solemn. Alex shrugged away and sniffled, the weight of the world pressed on her shoulders and willed them to break.<p>

Stevie gulped the thick lump in her throat and edged to Alex's side.

"Alex" Stevie knew it was best to call her by her first name, the situation was way to tense for her to make it formal. Alex timidly turned her head to the Detective.

"It'll be okay" Stevie placed her hand over Alex's and felt it trembling. Stevie winced and looked into her eyes.

"They are helping to put the bastard away" Stevie reassured her and Alex nodded, tears threatened and stung her eyes.

"I just..." Alex muttered and her voice broke.

"Could you leave us for a second" Stevie looked at the pair of staff they walked from the room.

Alex looked at her knees and Stevie tensed as Alex began to let tears spill from her eyes.

Stevie instinctively held her close. Alex sobbed into the Detective chest as Stevie held her, her arms were wrapped around her back as she cried, the sounds of a broken spirit riveted Stevie in chills.

"Alex" Stevie closed her eyes and planted a tender kiss in Alex's hair. Alex's sobs hindered at the strangers display of affection.

Alex felt a small spark of reassurance light the candle that had been once dampened in her rib cage.

"Thank you" Alex whispered and Stevie spoke into her hair.

"I just want to protect you" Stevie's words flowed from her chapped lips, with the grace and charm of molten gold.

The Doctor broke their embrace.

"We have to get this done with" his voice grated against Stevie's thoughts.

"Sure" Stevie let go of Alex hesitantly and stood across from her. One by one her wounds were exposed, displayed to the world, born from anger and would fade eventually if Alex's was cared for.

Stevie twitched as the marks around her abdomen and upper tights were shown. After ten minuets of ruthless exposure, Stevie's skin had paled.

She often wondered what drove people to this evil, primitive callings or just the greed for dominance. Alex covered herself back up and the Doctor then instructed for her to lie on her back. Stevie winced. The small box of small translucent evidence bags, swabs and documentation forms set her on edge, never had something so practical been such a sin to witness.

Popping a swab from it's paper casing, the Doctor instructed Alex's then to spread her legs.

Stevie stood up, trying to remain clam she locked eyes with Alex.

Alex was scared, embarrassed and shamed to be having to go through it. Alex wanted to pull a pillow over her head to stop the world seeing her face while this went on. Stevie walked to her bedside and sat in the chair beside her, clutching her hand the Detective summoned a tiny smile.

"It'll be over soon" she rubbed her thumb along the back of Alex's hand to sooth her. The raven haired girl smiled back and winced at the intrusion. Stevie gained her attention by speaking in a soft hush.

"Last time I was here was probably when I was born" Stevie chuckled and Alex squose her hand, the Detective had a charm to her rambling. Alex knew this woman was her cure, she no longer felt the drowning of shame or the embarrassment of exposing her ruined body to strangers. Stevie was no longer a stranger, every cell in her body was now tuned into to Stevie like she was an old friend.

"I'm guessing you're around my age Detective" she warmed to the way the address of authority didn't seem as dark and looming.

"Probably" Stevie shrugged and brushed her brown bangs from her face.

"I was born in the back of a cab" Alex smirked and Stevie grinned at the bogus fact.

"I think that's the coolest thing I've heard all week"

"What did you hear last week that could be possibly cooler?"

"That I got a pay rise" Stevie shrugged and Alex chuckled, it didn't seem backed up with a usual tide of amusement, it sounded like it was filling in for the real thing.

Darkness had fallen by the time Alex had been discharged from the confines of the hospital.

Stevie walked her back out the the parking lot where her tatty Volkswagen beetle sat under the beam of a street light, Dean had probably driven it here for her.

Sure enough the keys were sat on the bonnet.

"Careless ass hole, anyone coulda gotten hold of them" Stevie muttered under her breath and opened the car up, the orange lights flashed in signal that it had been unlocked.

"You want a ride anywhere? Is there any place you can stay?" Stevie knew the one place she wanted her.

Alex looked at her feet. The prospect of living with Justin and his wife didn't appeal to her in the slightest. Max was probably in a holding cell anyway. Alex then shifted from foot to foot, Jerry and Terresa had divorced a few years back and would probably argue over who she'd stay with.

"No" Alex muttered, catching Stevie's line of sight.

Stevie opened the passenger door for her.

"Hop in" the Detective grinned and twirled her keys around her index finger.

"Where am I going?" Alex regretted her fearful tone.

"Somewhere safe" Stevie closed the passenger door when she got in and jogged to get in herself. Her keys jingled as she jammed them into the ignition and twisted them left, the car purred to life.

"And that is?" Alex watched Stevie as the pressed her foot down pull out of the space.

"My house" Stevie flashed her a smile and drove from the car park.

The street lights glinted upon the windscreen as she drove through the back streets of New York, as a cop she'd picked up a few short cuts.

Stevie tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, the tapping sound broke the silence between the pair.

"Sorry you had to go through the rape kit thing with me" Alex finally sounded. Stopping at a red light, Stevie turned to the woman.

"You wanted me there, I was there"

"Are you like this with everyone?" Alex inquired and Stevie looked ahead, fixing her gaze on the lights.

"I bet you're hungry" Stevie sighed and drove on as the lights flicked to green, the whirr of the car was background noise.

"Kinda" Alex hadn't really played on the thought, but mentioning it, her stomach hurt as it shrunk from the lack of food.

"You up for Thai? Because I know this amazing place down on 15th where they do noodle wraps"

"Sounds good" if she was honest, anything sounded good at the moment in time.

Stevie looked for the turning and indicated, the sound of the clicking made Alex smile, she had an odd fondness for the sound.

In no time they parked in front of a small townhouse. Three trash cans lined the black fencing and a cat sat on the steps.

"Home sweet home" Stevie muttered and got out of the car then jogged to the other side to let Alex out.

Alex walked out into the cold night air and Stevie escorted her up the steps.

"I'm the only person in this building at the moment, lucky o'l me" Stevie took her keys and unlocked the door. Upon checking her pigeon hole for any mail she then lead Alex up the battered stair case to the second floor where her home rested.

The walls of the corridor were a tatty cream colour and a potted plant rested by Stevie's door.

"That's Bra-nabas" she commented like it was most natural thing in the world to name a fern in a pot.

"_Right_" Alex mused and pressed further into it's title. "Why Bra-nabas?"

"I used to have a lot of friends round when I first moved in and well, we always used to find our underwear in the plant the next morning" Stevie opened the door and let Alex in first.

"Welcome to the Bat cave"


	6. Chapter 6

**How are you liking this? I'd love to know. Hope you enjoy**

* * *

><p>Alex wondered into Stevie's abode.<p>

Her right foot landed on a creaky floorboard, she jumped at the sound and recovered shortly, taking a glance back to see if Stevie had noticed, she was too preoccupied with the light to care. An electric ping sounded and light drowned the room.

The walls were stripped of any plaster to reveal the tan brick underneath.

The space was narrow and all the furniture faced away from the two large windows at the front of the room. Stevie walked over and drew the blinds with a wooden swish and turned to Alex.

Lining the left wall was a large metal bookcase towering to the ceiling, possessing an army of old books and boxes. The right wall was littered with works of art and photographs as well as a large black chalk board with scribblings of names and dates upon it.

Down a small hallway leading from the sitting room lay the kitchen, it was a narrow space home to a fairly modern kitchen, all the work tops were polished wood and the only thing that truly stood out to Alex at that moment was the fridge.

Stevie picked up the home phone in on swift movement and dialled the take away much to Alex's liking.

Finishing the phone call in the space of a minuet, Stevie hung up and dropped the phone to the sofa. The suede, light brown material invited Alex to sit on it.

"Make yourself comfortable... you wanna drink?" Stevie scratched the back of her neck and glanced to the kitchen to back up her sentence. Alex sat down and huddled into the corner of the sofa, letting the material rub against her bare legs. She was still clad in the clothes from earlier, her top was still splattered with blood and her sorts were torn. Stevie clicked her fingers.

"Tea, coffee, whatever you want... if I have it of course and then I'll get you some clothes"

Alex sank into the sofa.

She felt like a burden, but Stevie would have sent to to a hotel or something like that if she didn't want her there, right?

"I'll have coffee if you don't mind"

"Sure thing" Stevie grinned, Alex had good taste, that was a bonus.

Stevie then jogged off into the kitchen, clattering sounded soon after she was swallowed by the room.

Alex smiled softly as she heard Stevie curse then lunge back out clutching a pack of what appeared to be coffee, but it was in a brown paper bag.

Alex rose an eyebrow at it.

"My old neighbour used to have it imported, he was this crazy Russian guy, apparently this stuff is meant to go with alcohol... but I find it better without"

Alex ran a hand through her hair and gazed at the Detective who's awkward conversation had made her appear cuter in her endeavour into making her feel better.

Stevie then bolted back into the kitchen to make the beverage.

Alex's eyes then focused on the scribblings that littered the chalk board.

They were dates, but not recent ones.

Tilting her head, Alex read on.

They seemed to be tracking years and days, but the other numerals mixed in didn't make any sense. Alex tried to decode their meaning but Stevie's entrance tore her attention away.

"Oh that" Stevie walked over and sat on the sofa and stared at the chalk board too, Alex soon didn't feel so intrusive.

"It's just a case" Stevie settled down and the sound of the kettle boiling livened the air.

"A long case I'm guessing" Alex turned to Stevie who was too staring at her scrawl of handwriting.

"Yeah, a long case" Stevie snuggled into the sofa and let her eyes roam over Alex. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Better than I did" Alex didn't look her in the eye, the brown orbs fixed down on to the floor with the passion of distraction.

Stevie felt her skin crawl with an urge, she wanted to touch and kiss every bruise away, cast a spell with her being to aid Alex from harm. Instead the Detective just touched Alex's arm tenderly with the tips of her fingers and brushed them along her olive skin while getting up to fix them some coffee.

Alex let out a gasp as the contact electrified her skin. Stevie winced her ears pricking to the sound.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?" Stevie was bewildered of how she could.

"No, no you didn't" Alex frowned at herself.

Stevie backed away slowly from the sofa then decided to go and act on her plan of making them coffee.

* * *

><p>Pained gasped played on Alex's lips. Her limbs shook, flailing punching away the demons above her slumber.<p>

In strikes and flashes of thunder her skin was coated in the gloss of an ice cold sweat.

Pants escaped her parted lips, the frail pink skin was chapped and her teeth dug into the plump flesh of her bottom lip.

Her hands gripped the sheets and twisted them, wringing them of the gremlins.

"No" Alex's back arched and she cried out into the dark.

Stevie's pupils dilated in the dim light of her sitting room, the blanket she'd wrapped herself in was twisted around her legs like the dead skin of a snake.

Stevie's eyes fixed on the ceiling as she tried to zone in on the noise that had torn her from her sleep.

A sob echoed out into the night and Stevie leapt from the sofa, her heart pounded in her chest, beating the blood around her body with a fire.

Gulping down the fearful curiosity, Stevie walked to her room. The journey took no effort, she'd walked the path too many times through the dark that it had become a mysterious venture in day light.

Her abode always haunted her at night, the demons of her past soaked into the bricks and would pry her from sleep often.

Stevie twisted the door knob and heard Alex's strangled yelps. The gasps and pants twisted Stevie's nerves into a tendrils of icy water.

Stevie's bare feet took the burden of her trembling walk to her bed.

Stevie stood at the side of Alex, her form illuminated by the moon, she had to ease the woman's pain. Alex lashed out, her eyes moist with tears.

Stevie sank to the bed and chose the moment when Alex's body had began to shudder to wrap her arms around her.

Alex lashed out and dug her nails into Stevie's left shoulder to get the offending form away. Stevie held in a pained yelp as Alex's nail tore her skin and felt her trembling grasp, the vice of her talons were the girls life line. Stevie breathed out, venting the pain, she knew the contact would ease Alex away from the purgatory of her nightmare.

With her arms wrapped around the small of Alex's back, Stevie tilted her head to her ear.

"Alex, shhhh, baby" Stevie rubbed circles slowly. Alex whimpered and her head fell into the crook of Stevie's neck.

Stevie gasped at the new applied weight but once Alex's body relaxed she knew she'd helped the woman to achieve solace.

"Mmm" Alex's throat vibrated with the waves of the sound she was producing, her eyes fluttered open to feel a warm embrace.

Stevie felt Alex stir, this time she had more awareness of her body.

"You were having a nightmare" Stevie whispered and Alex closed her eyes again and melted into Stevie's body, her limbs felt heavy with the duty of being awake.

Alex felt Stevie pull back, but she held the Detective tighter and let out a disgruntled grunt.

"No" Alex panted, her breath cutting sort. "Please don't leave me"

Stevie readjusted their bodies so their legs were intertwined and Stevie plannted a kiss on Alex's clammy forehead.

"Sleep baby" Stevie hummed.

Alex sighed at the contact and let her body mould into Stevie's with ease.

Stevie winced at the pain in her shoulder as she felt the injuries twinge, but knew they had been born for good intentions.

The morning light shone through the crack in the blinds. Highlighting the dust in the air before falling upon the bed in which the two women slumbered.

The drone of the alarm clock soon broke the peaceful scene. Stevie groaned, the sound dumbed out by the persistent bleeps. The Detective lifted her head to inspect the time that was depicted in red neon numbers. Half past seven had never seemed so cruel. Stevie rubbed her eyes of sleep and yawned.

Alex stirred shortly after, but cuddled into Stevie.

"Turn it off" Alex mumbled grumpily and Stevie slammed her hand down on the button to silence it's whines.

"Better?" Stevie smirked down at Alex, her hair messy but it was her tiny pout that made Stevie consider living with the woman for the rest of her life.

"Much" Alex sighed and nuzzled Stevie's neck. The Detective grew tense, was Alex even fully awake? Did she know what she was doing? Stevie shrugged it off, she liked the feeling.

It'd been along time since Stevie had woken up next to someone sober, so she bathed in the fact.

"You're warm, don't get up" Alex hummed her words against the skin of Stevie's neck, her breath tickled against her nerves.

Stevie closed one eye and left one open, half reacting to the feeling and half wanting to get ready for work.

"Alex I have to get ready for work"

The simple knowledge that Stevie actually had a job made Alex's morning crumble, she pulled away from the Detective and pulled the duvet over her head.

A sadness impaled her when she realised Stevie's job was evidently the cause of their meeting and that the job itself would tear them apart.

"What am I going to do for the rest of the day?" Alex grumbled, her voice muffled under the padding of the duvet. Stevie sat on the edge of the bed with her back to the raven haired woman and shrugged.

"Stay here if you'd like" Stevie then stretched and upon feeling her bones pop and crack she got up. Well it wasn't her bones that cracked, from what Khoo had told her some weeks ago, the cracking sensation was actually trapped pockets of air surrounding the joints and once applied with pressure they popped creating the sound and relief.

Stevie wanted to slap herself, she'd been hanging around with the techs for too long.

"Do you think I'd be able to have a bath?" Alex resurfaced from her bundle.

"Sure" Stevie walked over to the wardrobe and slid open the mirror doors.

Alex tilted her head and examined her lean legs. For a woman of 5'5 she proved to have an agile build, although she couldn't talk, she was around the same height guessing by the way their bodies wound together. Alex blushed at this fact and sunk back under the duvet to prevent further ogling.

"I'll go and run it for you" Stevie was examining the clothes upon the rack in her wardrobe while she spoke, with a metallic swish she parted them to inspect another item.

"I'll do it" Alex started to get out of bed when she noticed blots of blood under her nails. "Wh..."

Alex turned around to Stevie and then roamed her eyes over the bed, not blood on the sheets, she could have had a nose bleed. Touching under her nostrils there was no indication of one.

Stevie shrugged of her bed tee and Alex soon found her answer.

Four nail marks, rested upon Stevie's shoulder. The marks were an angry, sore red.

"Did I do that?" Alex's voice became timid. She practically attacked the woman who had taken her in, great first impression.

Stevie felt the wounds twinge as she mentioned them but turned with a steady smile playing on her lips.

"You had a nightmare and you we're upset... no worries, it doesn't hurt" Stevie shrugged but regretted the action as the marks stung and held under the pain a burning sensation. Alex scrambled out of bed and walked up behind Stevie to inspect the damage.

Stevie held her breath as Alex held her bicep to gaze at the wounds.

The way her slender fingers curled around Stevie's toned limb made the pair glance at each other. It felt so natural for the physical connection to flow between them.

"I think you may need some ointment and a bandage" Alex commented and Stevie bit down on her lip, still gazing at Alex's hurt expression.

"Really it doesn't hurt, besides, we could just use magic" Stevie knew her wand was in the sitting room and Alex's must be back at the apartment.

"Fine, bandage it" Stevie huffed as she saw Alex furrow her brow and cross her arms tightly in protest.

"Okay, they're in the kitchen right?" Alex began to walk from the room, attracting Stevie's wondering attention to her butt.

_No Nichols, she's just gone through hell and you're lookin' at her butt, classy. _

"Errr yeah, third overhead cabinet" Stevie's voice trailed off and she turned to slap herself mentally.

_Don't scare her off Nichols. _

Alex returned shortly with the items and gave Stevie a small smile.

"Sit on the bed while I do it" she instructed and Stevie was rendered just to comply.

The bed dipped as Stevie sat on it, exposed to Alex in a black bra and jogging bottoms.

Alex crawled behind her and set the items down whilst positioning herself. Alex was resting on her knees and pressed them to either side of Stevie's hips from behind the Detective.

Stevie gulped and felt Alex's fingers draw lazy lines up and down her spine, obviously soothing her.

_Alex IS NOT gay, she is just soothing you AND she's expecting you to be her friend, so don't mess it up._

Stevie felt her heart begin to increase, it steadily knocked her rib cage with every beat, winding her of words and filling the space where words would have been handy with an acute sense of the wizard behind her.

"It'll be careful" Alex whispered and dabbed the ointment on the wounds with a cotton bud. The twinge of open flesh set Stevie on edge, she could face a bloody body but when it came to herself, she hated it.

Stevie inhaled and closed her eyes.

"I'm I..."

"Don't stop" Stevie breathed and Alex nodded, soon the wounds had numbed. Alex took the bandage from it's paper wrapping and arched the first section of cloth over the wound then looped it twice before wrapping it around her chest and under the opposite arm pit to secure it with out it rubbing the wound.

Upon fasting the cloth Alex kissed Stevie's good shoulder lightly.

"We're even" she spoke into the skin and Stevie felt her mouth go dry.

_Just a friend, just a friend, just a friend... but what friend kisses the other on the... JUST a friend. _

Stevie was taken off guard when she felt something moist drop onto her skin and a whimper sound from Alex's parted lips.

"Alex?" Stevie turned her head to she could look at the woman. Alex let tears fall freely. "Hey, hey, it's okay" Stevie turned around and wrapped her arms around the now quaking wizard.

"I'm sorry" she sniffed and looked away immediately. "It's just I had this... flash back and it's sort of hard to comprehend and I..."

"No, no shh" Stevie soothed and cradled her, rocking them. "You're safe"

"I know" Alex sobbed and rested her head on Stevie's chest. "But I just feel so stupid"

"You're not stupid Alex" Stevie kissed into her hair and Alex wrapped her hands around Stevie tighter.

"Then how come I let it happen?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it's been so long for the update, I've been working on another 2 fics besides this ... agony for my brain**

* * *

><p>Another day of heat insured that the progress on the case was going to be slow, even if Mason was caged in a holding cell and awaiting interrogation. Stevie felt it in her gut that he wouldn't talk, then again who was she to listen to her intestines.<p>

Stevie sat strategically under the air con while being briefed by Dean of how it was all going to go. Stevie's gaze wondered from the Detective and her attention had drifted else where.

_.Alex. Air con. .Alex. _

This repetitive cycle reeling through her mind sent her an image of what Alex could possibly be doing while she was sat being told what she already knew.

"So you got it?" Dean clapped his hands together, the sharpness of the sound made Stevie jump.

"Oh, shit, yeah sure" she grinned sheepishly and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Ya didn't listen to a word I just said you?"

Stevie ran a hand through her hair and got up, the chair she'd been sat on creaked at the loss of weight on it's battered legs.

"Alex didn't sleep well last night" Stevie sighed as they both walked from the room down the corridor. Stevie was a few paces in front of Dean.

"And you would know becouse..." Dean stuffed his hands into his pockets and quickened his pace to walk by her side.

Stevie bit on her bottom lip.

_Slip of the lip, now you're in the shit. _

"Just don't tell..."  
>"Yeah, yeah, I won't tell, she stayed over didn't <em>she<em>"

"God, you sound as bad as Khoo"

"Answer the question Nichols"

"Yeah she did, she didn't sleep well so I was up comforting her"

"Wow, you have _emotions_?" Dean chuckled and Stevie rolled her eyes, pushing open the glass doors to the interrogation suite.

"Ha, Ha" Stevie sneered woodenly and stood by the last interrogation room.

Dean rolled his shoulders and nodded to her to open the door, as Stevie did so the sound of heavy breathing crawled out to them.

The room was dimly light, the walls were grey brick and a large mirror lined the back wall, reflecting their images but letting them be viewed by liberal eyes.

It was a classic setting for a not so classic scene. A desk sat in the middle of the room along with two chairs on one side and a single chair on the other.

"Wolfed up" Dean pointed to Mason who was now hairy and seething, sat in the single chair he growled at their entrance.

"The big bad wolf act isn't rubbing with me Mason so drop it" Stevie's voice was rough against her throat as she sat down and glared at him.

Dean paced behind her, his footsteps loud and sharp against the concrete floor.

Stevie looked at the beige file upon the desk inside it lay the contents from the Chicago case and their case. Under the file lay another one, smaller and pink. Stevie knew what this one was.

Rolling her jaw, Stevie started.

"Mason Greyback" her voice was thick. "You know why you're here"

"Because of you"

"It was rhetorical" Stevie snapped and plucked a photo from the first file and presented it to him, pressing it hard on to the desk.

"Two days ago, this body was found, with your DNA all over it" Dean pipped up and Stevie glanced over her shoulder coldly, the words _back off my turn _playing in her eyes.

Mason's eyes didn't leave the gruesome picture of mangled innards and blood until Stevie spoke again.

"Admiring your work?" her voice held no emotion towards him.

Mason had changed back to his human form and sat in silence, his eyes pinned to Stevie's hands.

"Huh" Dean snorted and glared at him.

Stevie then produced the photos from the Chicago case.

"Remember this?"

Mason pressed his mouth into a thin line.

"Listen I don't give a shit if you talk or not, I'm not even sure why we're even going through this becouse we have your DNA at both scenes" Stevie shoved that file away and ran a hand through her hair.

His silence riled her.

"Kinda ironic how you'll be sent down" Dean sneered, referring to the Wizard counsel that awaited him.

Stevie felt a sickening sense of reassurance in that fact. He probably would be eaten knowing the things that lurked down in the prisons.

Stevie's eyes fixed on the pink file and she shifted in unease.

"Alex Russo" she started and opened the file carefully like it would scold her if she prolonged her touch.

Mason grunted.

Stevie glanced up to meet his eyes, they travelled on into his skull like tunnels.

"She filed a rape and assault charge against you, I made sure it was processed last night"

Upon hearing his knuckles crack she knew she'd hit a nerve.

"I didn't rape her"

"These say other wise" Dean stood behind Mason as Stevie flashed him the photo's taken at the hospital. Stevie tried to avoid looking at them as best she could without stuffing them back in the file and burning it.

"Rape kit tested positive for your seamen and I've written a personal statement, so has Detective Dean that when we arrived at the scene the... the" Stevie set the photos down and rolled her shoulders, upon feeling the wounds twinge on her shoulder, she knew she was playing a bigger role than just the Detective.

"The contact between you two was forced and you displayed aggressive behaviour, also leading to my next charge, you _fucking_ punched me"

Stevie felt the purple crescent under her eye throb as she mentioned it.

Dean smirked at the change of sombre tone to pissed.

"It was really stupid that you did that kid" Dean leant down to talk in his ear."Never hear the term you punch me I'll punch you twice as hard? you'll get bollocked three fold"

Stevie grinned icily in Mason's direction.

"In this case... literally" Stevie ended and picked up the folders.

"You better pray to God..." Mason started and growled.

"Your balls get better?" Stevie withheld a smirk and Dean turned away to chuckle.

Mason grunted and Stevie rose from her seat.

"I think we're done here" she confirmed.

Dean gawked.

"What? We're not even half way, he's not confessing"

"And he wont, will you" Stevie snapped to the wolf, he jerked his chin arrogantly in her direction. "He just wants power and I'm not gonna sit around and wait for his shitty ego to break, might as well leave the breaking to the court" Stevie collected the files and exited the room. Dean glanced at Mason then her exiting form.

"Please tell me you know what you're doing' Nichols" Dean hollered after her and slammed the door behind him as he walked out into the corridor.

Stevie tapped the files against her leg and gave Dean a smirk.

"What the hell happened back there? We were gonna break him Nichols!"

"Listen he wasn't gonna..."  
>"No, we have to follow protocol here Nichols" Dean jabbed his finger down at the floor and his stern features bored into her. "In this fucking system we have to get a legitimate confession for the rape"<p>

"There's enough evidence to convince the counsel"

"But there ain't a confession for the _rape, _there just gonna think it was some freaky ass sex thing"

Stevie's phone buzzed angrily in her pocket, she gritted her teeth and tore her attention away from Dean.

"Khoo has something" Stevie growled, scanning the text. "Hopefully it's a _confession_" Stevie snapped and stuffed the files into his hands, with the force a few of the photo's fell from them. One of Alex's bruised eye floated down to the floor. Stevie picked it up bitterly and took it with her, neither of them that bothered of the others actions.

Dean huffed and leant on the wall heavily watching Stevie walk off, her lanky frame pushing past a few other officers as she went.

* * *

><p>Alex sat on the counter top in Stevie's kitchen.<p>

She freely swung her legs and let the back of her heel hit the wood of the draw absently, liking the sound of how the innards of the draw clattered.

_Swing, thud, rattle._

_Swing, thud, rattle._

The tick of the clock wore away the minuets and Alex knew she'd have to do something productive but not destroy Stevie's home in the process.

Sliding off the counter, the sound of her bare feet padding across the wood throbbed in her ears, crawling onto the couch she sat cross legged staring at the chalk scribbles.

She knew she was prying, but it allured her to know what the case was and why Stevie had taken it home to resume then conclude it.

Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Alex scanned the letters in attempt to decode it.

Alex glanced around, the traffic outside hummed and the walls couldn't watch her.

The dates where years apart and the scribbles around them seemed incoherent to the information.

Alex wrapped her arms around herself and examined it for a while, her eyes ran over the letters and numbers each time she read it, the numbers seemed to swarm with a new meaning in her mind.

She was tracking a murderer?

Someone who'd gotten under her skin?

Tracking her progress?

Just counting the years?

Alex rubbed her eyes and sat back, the raven haired wizard turned to the bookshelf and sighed.

It seemed to deep to swim into.

Right now, all she wanted was a coffee and probably a walk, to clear her head. Alex got up and stretched, Stevie had said she'd left her some clothes on the bed.

Alex pushed Stevie's door open and her eyes fell upon a note resting on the bed.

_Pick out anything you want, you're about my size, enjoy raiding my not so elaborate wardrobe Al. _

Alex traced the tips of her fingers over the scrawl of Stevie's handwriting and a tiny smile kissed her lips.

_Al. _

Stevie was already calling her a nick name. Alex folded the letter neatly and beelined to the wardrobe.

Alex slid open the door and glanced inside. Two tan wood draws lay under a railing, white, black and red blouses hung upon a few hangers, along with two black dresses, tons of jeans and a few dozen jackets.

Pulling open the top draw she slammed it shut swiftly.

Underwear.

Timidly pulling open the second her eyes fell upon neatly folded t-shirts, shorts and a single pile of nightwear.

Shrugging she pulled a grey and black Aztec print tee from the comfort of the draw and threw it over onto the bed.

Alex then plucked a pair of black jean shorts from the pile next to the t-shirts and threw them onto the bed.

Closing the draw and glancing back to the underwear she felt a blush creep upon her cheeks.

She needed underwear also.

Alex gulped and eased the draw open then pulled a pair of black, lacy underwear from the bottom of the arrangement.

She could survive the day with the same bra.

Closing the top draw without haste she walked into the bathroom to wash and the proceed to change.

She ruffled her hair as she walked back down the hall and slipped into the bathroom.

Peeling off her nightwear, Alex ran the water in the sink.

Glancing in the mirror that rested on the wall above the sink, Alex examined her body.

The bruises that plagued her skin, the ungodly tattoos of a past she never wanted to look back to had turned purple and yellow in some places. Alex felt a form of reassurance that they were now healing. Her emotions however broke as she felt a tear trail down her cheek. The scar of moisture brought her to her knees.

She felt so out of control, as if life was screwing her around and not letting her stand back up.

Her body was a bomb shelter to her heart, the shelter wasn't holding up.

Alex sniffed and wiped the tear away with the back of her hand, now angry at herself for crying. Self pity never helped anyone.

Splashing the cold water onto her face, her once flushed cheeks were tamed by it's icy gleam upon her skin.

Droplets fell from her chin and fell into the sink bowl.

The drained the water from the sink once she'd rinsed her mouth out with a heavy dose of mouth wash.

Alex climbed in to the shower and let the warm water run over her skin, soothing her aches.

She just wanted peace.

The wizard closed her eyes and brushed her soaked hair from her face.

The pattering of the water dumbed out the sound of the front door clicking open, the handle twisted and the hinges creaked. Two heavy footsteps fell heavily upon the wood of the floor and the door then shut firmly.

The lock was then pulled across the door with a harsh swish and click and the foot steps lugged in the direction of the bathroom.

Alex was busy rinsing her hair of suds when the bathroom door clicked open. Alex flung her eyes open, getting suds into the corners of her eyes as a result. Hissing curses under her breath she yelped as the curtain was pulled back, exposing her battered skin to the intruder.


	8. Chapter 8

**I like teasing you all with cliff hangers... I JUST LOVE IT**

* * *

><p>"Oh shit!" a yelp sounded and Alex yanked the shower curtain from the intruders grasp and covered her body.<p>

"Who the fuck are you?" Alex yelled, the water still pattered down behind her.

"Wa..Warren" the dark haired man covered his eyes and Alex fought away the blush that graced her cheeks. "I just want to know..." he stuttered and turned his back on Alex. "Why are you in my sisters shower?"

"I'm her friend" Alex blurted out and took in Warren's attire. He wore a grey shirt with a black tie and a pair of black jeans along with black brogues.

"_Friend_?"

"Yeah" Alex made the word out as more of a sound than a word.

Warren still stood with his back turned.

There was a silence between the pair.

"_Warren_" Alex stared. "Could you, er, get outta the bathroom so I can, you know..."  
>"Oh! Oh, yeah sure" Warren bolted from the room and Alex relaxed as the door shut.<p>

Alex shank down the side of the wall and curled in a ball, winded from the shock that now infested her.

Her hands shook, the digits were curled into her palms and she stuffed them under her arm pits to avoid watching their betrayal of inner emotional.

Alex rested her head back on the cold tile and she breathed out shakily.

_It could have been Mason. It could have been Mason. _

_But it wasn't. _

_It wasn't, so get up. _

Alex took her own minds advice. She turned off the shower and stepped out, grabbing at towel from the wooden chocks hammered to the wall to make pegs.

Alex smiled at this minor detail.

As stupid as it felt, the chocks were something only Stevie would think of and attempt to slam into a wall, Alex adored the simple fact.

She dried her body off and she winced when her hand roamed across the particularly harsh bruise along her back. Alex recoiled from the spot and moved on to dry her hair in a rush.

Glancing around she silently cursed herself.

All that she had to wear was the bed shorts and vest from the previous night.

She grimaced at the items but put them on to cover her damp body.

Slinking out of the bathroom, feeling still more than naked, Alex edged her way to Stevie's room.

Warren turned the corner and they both yelped again. Alex slammed herself into the rear wall, even thought she was aware of the clothing she was wearing.

Warren shut his eyes tightly again.

"Are you naked again?" he mumbled.

"No! But I'd kinda like it if you stopped walking around while I need to get dressed"

"Right, okay, yeah I can do that" Warren gulped and strode away, with his eyes still closed. Alex heard a muffled curse and clatter.

He'd slammed into something.

Alex held her hand over her mouth to refrain from giggling at him.

The raven haired wizard slunk into Stevie's room and closed the door firmly.

The sounds of the New York traffic drifted through the open window, shouts of passers by to others filled the small room with the chaos of civilisation.

Alex stretched and walked over the bed.

It's brass frame creaked as she leant over to grab the clothes she'd set out previously.

Taking off the old and dawning the new, Alex soon set out to find a hair drier.

Soon after giving up her search, Alex sat on the bed, her mind absently drifted. Her eyes were fixed on the dresser under the window and the white curtains blew in the summer breeze.

What if.

That question slipped through her mind, circling and bubbling to the surface of a thought.

"_Shit, Mason" Alex yelped and he slammed his hand over her swollen lips. _

"_Shh" he grunted and jerked his body faster, in turn making Alex's lower back bruise against the granite of the counter. By now she was sure some patches of skin had broken, the tender skin was stinging._

_Alex took her right hand from gripping his shoulder and propped herself up, this was just a mimic of a movement. _

_Alex curled her fingers around the knife resting on the counter. With a slide of metal against the surface, Alex had it resting in her palm, holding it with the passion of deadly intentions. _

_Mason hummed in time with his rhythm. _

_Alex's stomach turned, but she knew she had to get rid of him one way or another. _

_Death was the only resort. _

_Alex pulled back and looked into his eyes. _

_She gave a small smile before plunging the knife into his chest. The harsh split of skin and the cry of pain insured freedom. _

_Alex slid back onto the counter and watched him with bitter amusement as his half exposed body staggered back, yelping and gasping as blood stained his shirt and ran over his shaking hands. _

_Alex tilted her head to the side. _

_He knows he's going to die. _

_His eyes speak. _

_They scream. _

_Alex slid from the counter, fixed her clothes as if nothing happened and yanked the knife from his chest. _

_She had power. _

_Alex twirled the bloody instrument through her fingers and slashed across his chest for good measure. Mason fell crippled to the ground, writhing and gasping, his throat was dry and welled up with clots of blood. _

_The crimson poured like water from his chest and spat from his lips. Choking and groaning, Mason tried to crawl away from the darkness closing in on his sight. _

_Alex stood over him and watched. _

_She could inflict another stab to finish him off, but she... she had the will and way to do so. _

_The raven haired wizard rinsed the knife of blood in the sink and set it back in the chock. _

_She smiled icily with her back turned when Mason fell silent. _

_Alex washed her hands and ruffled her hair. He was still twitching, like a dying insect. _

Alex pulled out of her day dream, anger tore through her body and she punched the brass bar to her left.

The blow made the bed frame quake and her knuckles throbbed.

The bitter pain reminded her that the event in her mind never happened, it was erased from the fabric of her mind like it had been burnt away.

Alex gritted her teeth and stood up.

Her knuckles where white as she curled them in to fists.

She wanted some justice of her own. She needed it.

Kicking the frame as she walked past it, Alex exited the bedroom and was halted in her tracks when her eyes brushed over Warren, stood with a cup of coffee outstretched in her direction.

"Take it as an 'I'm sorry'" his voice melted away her anger, it soon dried like wax, the candle had burnt out in an instant.

Alex offered him a tiny smile and walked up to him to receive the coffee.

"Thanks" she spoke dumbly and sat on the couch.

Warren took his coffee from the table and sat on the other end of the sofa.

Alex felt all her cells recoil from him.

She knew it wasn't fair on Warren to feel a bitter resentment towards him, Alex's mind was now wired to hate the male species until she got used to the fact she'd be violated by one.

Even the peace offering of coffee didn't really cut it for her.

"Sorry for... walking in"

"Oh" Alex dropped her eyes to the steaming brown liquid.

Warren's voice grated against her thoughts.

Right now all she wanted to do was curl up and hug someone who was female, someone who understood and would take time to listen.

"Yeah sorry about it, I honestly thought you were Stevie..."  
>Alex zoned out, his presence seemed cold, everywhere seemed cold, like the atmosphere opened her flesh and dropped ice into her blood.<p>

She knew she was incoherent in her own world.

This wasn't her home, Warren wasn't her friend, she wasn't herself.

"So yeah sorry" he finished babbling and picked his eyes up to meet Alex's hunched frame. Alex didn't respond, she was too busy with the romance between her and the coffee to care. Alex's eyes stung as she blinked.

Warren cleared his throat and brought Alex out of her trance.

"Uhm" Alex made the small noise as she glanced at him, her eyes had turned red and puffy. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were acting as if she was.

"Are you okay?" Warren's voice got higher, probably with panic.  
>"Just dandy" Alex hummed her words and gripped the cup tighter, her body ached again.<p>

Warren shifted and set his mug down with a clank as it touched the glass of the coffee table.

"How do you" cough "know my sister?" Warren placed his hands on his lap.

"Just from around" Alex figured her really wouldn't want to know that she was just a lost puppy in Stevie's case.

Alex bit down on her lip.

Maybe that _all _anyone ever thought of her as... the lost puppy, who needs a hug then gets kicked out.

No one _really _cares.

"I'm guessing it's complicated?"

Alex just nodded and curled into herself even more.

Warren knew this girl was hurting, emotionally and probably physically from her expression.

_41 muscles to frown_

Warren noted this fact and examined her physical demeanour.

"I'm guessing right about now... your flexor muscles are killing you" Warren shrugged and Alex turned her head to his little fact.

"You could say that" Alex huffed.

"You should really just sit up straight, it will cause less stress and lying down will probably ease the direct pain... you'll be left with an ache" Warren almost sang the words. Alex shrugged.

"Why do you care?"

"Because you look... you look like you're hurting" Warren's voice was tiny.

Alex gulped thickly.

"Thanks"  
>"For what?"<p>

"Caring I guess" Alex then assumed the position of lying on her back, Warren was right, she was left with an ache, but it was something she could deal with for once.

"You'll need aspirin" Warren made short work of getting the dug. He handed Alex a half pint of water and a tiny orange coated aspirin.

"Hope it helps" Warren sat back down and watched Alex take the drug.

"Me too" Alex closed her eyes and relaxed.

* * *

><p>The white light of the lab made Stevie's skin appear almost grey, the tint it usually held had drained away and the bruises she'd acquired from the last few days. Khoo hummed to herself as she worked.<p>

"You said you had something for me Khoo" Stevie crossed her arms and Khoo looked up, a small smile gracing her features.

"That I do" she held her index finger up in a 'matter of factly' gesture and skipped to the desk in the corner of the lab.

"So..." Khoo dragged out the word and leant on the desk. Stevie looked around and frowned.

"What?"

"I heard you took the victim home last night" Khoo glared at her. Stevie rolled her eyes.

"Khoo if you have nothing better to do than..."

"That classes as interference, _they_ could say you were tampering with the case" Khoo crossed one leg over the other.

"God! No! Khoo, I was offering hospitality" Stevie threw her hands above her head.

"_I_ know that, _but _I think you should be ready just in case Mason's lawyer gets wind of it"  
>"He hasn't lawyered up yet"<p>

"He will do though, so you better hide the fact that the vic stayed at your house... by the way, how is she"  
>"<em>Alex, <em>is fine Khoo" Stevie didn't realise she'd winced due to her shoulder when Khoo's trained eyes spotted the discomfort and the timing.

"Did she hurt you?" her voice rose an octave.

"No, not intentionally no, she was having a nightmare and she ended up taking it out on me" Stevie mentioned this like it was common knowledge.

"How did she... oh my... did you sleep with her?"

"Khoo" Stevie started. "Why would I _sleep _with her? That's low if you think that of me"  
>"I don't mean as in intercourse!"<p>

At that moment Dean strode in, his eyes widened and fell upon the two women.

"Do I wanna know? Nah, probably not..." he held his hands up in defence.  
>"<em>What<em> is it?" Stevie huffed and walked over to him. Khoo giggled.

"Luckily, Mason is gonna be held over night... so we have another go tomorrow, that's the good news. Bad news is, he's getting a lawyer"

"Told you!" Khoo wagged a finger at Stevie and pranced off to sort her equipment.

"So we're gonna have to be careful where we tread"

"Yeah" Dean shrugged. Stevie ran a hand through her hair and began to walk out, but glanced back to Khoo. The M.E was happily humming 'walking on sunshine' while sorting the range of scalpels she possessed.

"Khoo... we did _sleep_ in the same bed" Stevie added and Khoo held her thumb up, still with her back turned and humming.

Dean followed Stevie out.

"Hey, listen..." Dean started, his voice echoed down the corridor.

"All ears" Stevie strode ahead and pressed the up button on the elevator.

"Sorry for back there, having a go, I mean, I was just, caught off guard and as much as I disagree with what you did, I sorta respect it, I mean you are housing the victim, you are gonna be pretty attached"

"Stop calling her a victim" Stevie snapped and the elevator pinged.

"Fine, Alex Russo"

"Alex"

"_Alex_" Dean and Stevie walked into the elevator.

"You did have to sit through the rape kit Dean... you didn't see the fear and pain what this guy inflicted, he's got to me becouse... Alex has got to me" Stevie spoke while facing the elevator door.

"Don't let the lawyer know that"

"I won't slip up, not again" Stevie rolled her aching shoulder.

"Right now, I'm gonna go and get a burger... care to join me?"

"Sure, I've not eaten" Stevie gave him a small smile and they reached the floor they had their minds set on.

Slotting her key into the front door, Stevie walked into her home, upon smelling pasta and garlic she knew the Bison burger hadn't done much, she was starving.

"Hi?" Stevie called out and threw her keys onto the couch.

"In here!" Alex's voice drifted to her waves. Stevie walked in and hung on the door frame.

"Well you look better" Stevie noted and Alex grinned, clad in a Deer print pinafore.

"I'm making pasta in a tomato sauce, with basil and garlic" Alex hummed tapping the wooden spoon on the rim of the pan. Stevie knew she could get used to Alex cooking, she could get used to Alex in general.

"Smells good" Stevie stood by her side and looked into the two simmering pans.

"It's the only thing I can actually make"  
>"Good enough for me... I'll eat anything"<p>

Stevie and Alex smiled at each other, their bodies inches apart. Alex stared at Stevie's lips.

"Yeah she really will" Warren's voice sounded and broke their intention.

"Warren?" Stevie turned harshly and he yelped.

"Hi sis"


	9. Chapter 9

Stevie glared between the pair.

"And you two met how?"

The sounds of the simmering water added a harshness to the Detective's voice.

Warren was about to explain when Alex cut in, knowing Stevie couldn't blow up at her as much.

"We" Alex closed one of her eyes in thought of how to explain it. "Bumped into each other"

"Yeah" Warren laughed nervously and Stevie narrowed her eyes at he brother.

"You" Stevie jabbed her finger at Warren. "I thought _you_ made it clear that you wouldn't see me again"

"Well, rules change" Warren shrugged.

Stevie scoffed.

"Wow, disobeying your own rules, bad ass" Stevie remarked, her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Listen, I was just tired from work"  
>"Work? You have <em>no<em> work Warren"

"Well look who's being the good kid"

Alex coughed to split their bickering.

"I think dinners ready" Alex knew the whole ordeal was to familiar to her, it was like Justin had walked into the place with his crazy new ideals and theories.

Alex shuddered at the thought and touched Stevie's wrist. The Detective smiled at her.  
>"Help me?" Alex pouted and Stevie nodded, forgetting Warren as soon as Alex had set her eyes upon her.<p>

Warren went to go and sit down at the dinning table, composed of a wooden slab and three mismatching chairs.

Stevie reached into one of the over head cupboards to collect three plates.

Alex took off the apron and served the food in equal portions. Stevie sighed and collected the cutlery, slamming the draw, Alex knew as anyone else would, Warren was pressing Stevie's buttons.

"Hey" Alex hummed the word and rubbed Stevie's back. The Detective went ridged at her touch, she was scared she'd somehow screw it up, the mere contact could ruin their friendship.

"I'll sit next to you if you want" Alex grinned and took in two of the plates. Stevie was left with the cutlery in one hand and a plate in the other.

"I'll take these" Stevie moved swiftly out of the kitchen and placed the cutlery down on the table with a clatter.

The two siblings glared at each other for a second while Stevie set the plate down in front of him, splashing some of the sauce onto his shirt.

"Oops" Stevie sneered and Warren looked down at the blotch of sauce with saddened eyes.

"This was a new shirt"

"Aww why did Mom get it you"

"At least Mom knows I'm _alive_" his voice reduced to a harsh whisper. Stevie pulled her wand out and pointed it to his throat.

"Take it back" Stevie glared down at him and pressed it further into the skin, making him gasp.

Alex walked in and winced at the sight.

"Well..." she looked around and set the plates on the table. Stevie lowered her wand and threw it across the room. She was making it worse, she'd just acted out when Alex was the guest, hell she should have made Alex dinner.

"Sorry" Stevie dropped her gaze and sat down heavily.

Alex shrugged and sat down next to her, Warren was already picking at his food.

"Do you have to do that?" Stevie mumbled and stuffed a curl of pasta into her mouth. Alex ate her food, watching the siblings.

Warren rolled his eyes and ate.

"Mason is getting what he deserves" Stevie spoke between bites.

Alex smiled into her plate.

"Good" she popped a leaf of basil in her mouth.

"Oh so you're working a case?"

"I'm always working a case Warren"

"Yeah, I know" Warren had already finished his plate of food and rose from his seat. "I'm going to go now, thanks Alex for the food and earlier"

Stevie turned sharply to Alex and turned back to watch Warren leave.

"What did he mean?" Stevie dropped her gaze to the steaming food and her voice was barely a whisper.

"He walked in on me having a shower, that's all"

"That's all!" Stevie nearly choked on the pasta she'd been eating.

"He helped actually"

"With the shower?" Stevie's voice rose an octave.

"No" Alex shook her head. "With my back pain"

"Oh"

"What did he work as?" Alex tilted her head and listened intently for an answer.

"A scientist, wizard scientist, he studied bodies... experimented on extracting powers for wizards and enhancing them... he killed someone" Stevie pushed her plate away and sat back, rubbing her eyes. Alex knew she'd caused trouble.

"I can go" Alex stood up and cleared the plates.

"What? Alex, no" Stevie got up, the force of which made the chair screech back.  
>"I've caused something and..." Alex rushed rinsing the plates off in the sink with shaky hands. She didn't want to leave, she had nowhere to go if she did, Stevie was her only hope and she'd blown it.<p>

Stevie leant over and turned the tap off and stared at Alex.

"You've not done anything Al.. I mean Alex" Stevie slapped herself for using the shortened version that her mind often use to call her. "I want you to stay" Stevie placed her hand on Alex's upper arm.

Alex bit her lower lip and looked at the floor, her feet had suddenly become interesting to look at.

"I must be good company" Alex sneered. Theresa had said she was the worst company in the world many a time before she moved out.

_You have no manners. _

_You're lazy. _

_You eat EVERYTHING _

_You don't take anyone else but yourself into consideration Alex Russo. _

Alex shuddered as her Mom's nagging voice filled her skull.

"You're the best company I've had... well the only company I've ever enjoyed, Alex I don't want you to go... ever" Stevie bit on the inside of her cheek and Alex giggled.

"You really want me to stay?"

"Yeah, I would say it if I didn't mean it Al"

Alex blushed at the use of her name, it was the sweet how Stevie called her by a nickname.

"I think your flat has been cleared... we can go and get your stuff in the morning"

Alex felt a chill invade her defences.

"I...I don't want to go back there" Alex stepped away from Stevie. The Detective winced and took a step forward to pull Alex into a reassuring hug. Alex held onto Stevie and buried her head into the crook of her neck.

"I'll go and get it then, anything you don't want me to get?"

"I just need clothes and my wand"

"Your wand is with the techs"

"Oh and get the photo album on my desk"

"Okay I got it" Stevie almost yelped the words as she felt Alex trail her nose up and down her neck.

"Thank you" she whispered and pulled away. Stevie stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"No worries" Stevie rocked on the back of her heel. "I'll clean the plates, you go and... sit I guess"

"Urg with the books?" Alex pouted.

"Yeah, with the books" Stevie chuckled and got to work on cleaning up.

"I hate reading" Alex mumbled and dragged her body into the sitting room.

Stevie laughed to herself and tried to battle with the water now streaming from the tap.

The sound of New York night life drafted through the window. The night sky was littered with stars and the flashing lights of high flying planes and helicopters.

Alex was resting, her body was tangled in the sheets and the hairs on her arms were stood on end as the breeze washed over her.

"No" Alex mumbled her chest heaved and she tossed her body violently, the bed creaked with the action.

Stevie lay awake on the sofa. Her eyes traced patterns in the darkness.

The question that haunted her always flashed in front of her like an old ghost.

_Who did this to me?_

Stevie felt her blood in her veins and the oxygen in her lungs.

It was almost like a curse to walk the earth again with a new perspective on death and life. It was fragile, so many things on the planet attempted to kill the population. Even humans killed humans. _We live to take life. _

_We are born just to die. _

Stevie rolled over and sighed, the whole of it seemed pointless.

_Why make life if everything is out to take it? _

_Why did someone spare me? Am I meant for something?_

Stevie groaned at herself.

Why would she be meant for something?

Stevie knew her life was going to be spent making others happy by bringing solace to the people important to victims of murder or helping victims get back on their feet.

Selflessness was her employer.

Stevie was brought out of her thoughts by Alex's rushed shouts. Stevie looked down at herself, she was clad in baggy sweats and a black vest. Stevie's shoulder was still aching from the previous night.

The Detective got to her feet and walked over to her room. Opening the door, Stevie stepped into the room and sat cross legged at the bottom of the bed. Leant against the brass bars she watched Alex toss and turn.

Stevie didn't know how to approach her without getting beat up.

She sighed and crawled across the bed then lay next to her.

"Al" Stevie soothed and ran her hand down her arm. The raven haired wizard twitched at the contact and groaned as if in pain.

"Alex, wake up" Stevie gulped thickly and intertwined their hands. Alex stirred, her forehead beaded in sweat and her body shook. It wasn't as bad as the previous night, but still ached to see Alex wake up with terror in her eyes.

"Baby, it's okay" Stevie soothed and Alex eloped the Detective in a needy hug.

"Stevie" she sobbed and wrapped her arms around the back of Stevie's neck, pressing their foreheads together. Stevie held her breath and noticed how their legs had become entangled.

Alex's bare legs warmed to the feeling of Stevie's sweats.  
>"Mason, he, he was..." Alex panted and screwed her eyes shut.<p>

"Shh, shh, it's okay, he's not gonna hurt you" Stevie soothed and Alex's chest rose and fell heavily.

"Stevie" Alex whispered and opened her eyes to meet the Detective's. "Don't leave me" Alex whimpered and Stevie rested her hands on the small of Alex's back.

"I'm not going to Al" her voice spread a warmth to Alex that nobody else had achieved.

The sound of steady breathing fell between the pair.

"Stevie?" Alex voice was close to her ear now.  
>"Yeah?" Stevie gulped and winced.<p>

Could Alex tell her heart was hammering?

"I want you to sleep in here with me, every night from now on"

Stevie smiled and scolded herself for the blush forming on her cheeks.

"Yeah, I think I can do that"


	10. Chapter 10

**Another chapter another little twist, do hope you enjoy this. **

Stevie lounged around the apartment, fresh from bed, she didn't feel ready to face the day. The Detective had acquired such a attitude to mornings from her job and partly from being raised by her Mother, Tam Nichols. That woman had made her get up early every morning from the age of four, the routine was engraved in her bones. Even now Stevie had her own home, it still haunted her daily pattern.

The Detective yawned and rolled her shoulders. Stevie knew she had to do something productive, so she soon decided to make breakfast for Alex.

Whom of which was still in bed, Stevie loathed the girl for ability to sleep in for hours.

The brunet slumped into the worn couch and sighed out, slowly. It was 5 am according to the low morning bustle outside the apartment.

Stevie licked her dry lips and looked over to an aged copy of 'Ancient Magic and it's uses'. The book was illegal in the wizarding community, from scanning through it on lonely evenings, Stevie had soon gathered why. Old world magic had all intentions to kill and destroy mortals, but it was powerful and came in handy when researching into who exactly had brought her back to life.

Stevie grumbled to herself, she had two hours until she had to get ready for another drag of interrogations and paper work.

She heard the fridge click and whir breaking through the dimly lit apartment. Stevie rubbed her eyes, freeing the lids from sleep that had crusted over.

Stevie decided to act on making Alex breakfast and lugged her tired body off the sofa. She felt the roof of her mouth become dry and it spread to the back of her throat in no time. She had to quench the new thirst that infested her.

She moved over to the coffee machine and flicked it on. The smell of coffee would probably wake Alex in an hour or so, so until then, Stevie would attempt to make a appetising breakfast.

Alex rolled over and blinked her eyes open. Her lean body was sprawled across her bed, the sheets were tangled around her feet and her head was snugly planted in a pillow.

She grumbled in annoyance, the aggravation of waking up was soon soothed.

Alex sniffed the air, coffee, roasted and warm. It brought her out of her irritation lovingly. Alex sat up to untangle her legs from the sheets when she heard a crass curse from the kitchen.

Alex got out of bed and went to investigate, predicting she may have to tend to whatever wound Stevie had inflicted on herself with the slip of a kitchen utensil or something else... like trapping her hand in the fridge.

Alex wondered into the kitchen and rose her eyebrows.

"Stevie?" the girl stopped at the door way.

The Detective had flour blotched over the bridge of her nose, her front and some in her fringe.

She jack rabbited and hid from view that pancake mix she'd so desperately tried to make.

"Ah! You're awake!" Stevie cringed as her hand landed upon two empty egg shells, the crunch and sharp stab of the shards make her recoil. Yanking her hand away, Stevie flashed a charming grin in Alex's direction before wiping the left over yolk from her now reddened palm.

"What are you..." Alex looked her up and down with a smirk. "_Trying_ to make?"

"Erm" Stevie pouted, resembling the look a toddler would make once caught drawing on walls.

Alex walked up to her and gently eased her away from the bowl she'd been hiding.

"Pancakes?" Alex looked down at the creamy mix and smiled softly. "Aww"

"What? What are you _awwing_ at?" Stevie glanced at the bowl then at Alex, a puzzled expression now played on her features.

"You" Alex giggled and grabbed the kitchen cloth from the hanging rack and rubbed the flour from Stevie's nose.

The Detective went cross eyed as she watched the cloth clean her nose.

"I made you coffee" Stevie pointed over to the steaming mug of the opposite counter.

"Did you spill that on yourself too?" Alex was still giggling and picked the mix out of Stevie's hair.

"No" she frowned and sighed. "I just wanted to make you breakfast... you know... to say, errr well... you know" Stevie scratched the back of her neck and Alex cupped her cheek tenderly.

"Good Morning" she whispered and kissed Stevie's cheek. The Detective's eyes widened and Alex left her lips lingering there. "I'll be happy to help you clean up"

Stevie smiled, trying not to focus on the blush attacking her cheeks.

"Okay" she glanced around franticly.

Alex handed her the cloth she'd used to brush away the flour and winked.

"I'll clean the counter" Alex announced at grabbed another cloth to begin wiping the broken egg shell and splattered mix from the counter. Stevie then gathered the equipment and stuffed it all into the sink. She then looked at the bowl of mix.

"Should we try and make pancakes? I mean, the batter is ready" Stevie picked up the bowl to make her point.

"A bake off?" Alex challenged with a wiggle of her eyebrows. Stevie smirked.

"Why not"

Stood side by side, the two women glared at each other, pans in hand with the mix spread evenly in them.

"Three, two, one" Stevie counted down and they both placed their pans down on the stove, each watching the batter suddenly bubble.

"The looser has to buy the take out tonight" Alex took a spatula and prodded at the sides of the ever solidifying pancake.

Stevie did the same a few seconds after and grinned as the top layer of her pancake began to turn a golden brown.

Readying herself to flip it, she glanced at Alex who had already flipped hers once.

"Okay, no fair" Stevie flipped her's. The pancake rolled over on itself in a pathetic slap and soon took on the form of a curled, golden brown pancake roll.

Alex's pancake was happily done and she glanced at Stevie's creation.

"Erm" she started and Stevie prodded it with her spatula. "Ta da?"

Alex laughed and turned off the stove.

"Okay, I'm letting you win, that's the worlds weirdest formed pancake"  
>"But I'm not letting you pay for take out" Stevie slid the deformed pancake onto a plate and Alex did the same.<br>"My treat" Alex cooed and walked into the sitting room, already picking at the pancake.

Stevie followed, looking down at the abomination that was now her breakfast.

Alex sat cross legged on the sofa happily eating, Stevie however sat staring at the chalk board, her face like stone as her eyes scanned the information.

Alex stopped chewing and followed her gaze.  
>"You okay?" Alex pulled her brows into a tiny frown.<p>

"Huh?" Stevie was pulled out of the reeling of numbers and letters, the harsh reality flooded back to her. This was the real world, you can't sit and dwell on things for too long with out concerning people.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good"

Alex gave her a sceptical look but soon dropped the matter and continued to eat.

A sharp buzzing from the kitchen alreted them both.

"Oh" Stevie got up, leaving her plate on the coffee table and snatched up her phone from the counter.

"Nichols"

"_Good you're up...You ain't gonna like this, another body was found_"

"What?" Stevie hissed, glancing over her shoulder to Alex. "I thought we got him?"

"_Well yeah will still 'have him' but it's the same M.O, get down to China Town ASAP" _Dean's thick accent was backed up by the hum of cars and what sounded like string of angry Cantonese. Stevie fathomed he was already there.

Gulping she hung up.

"Work?" Alex's voice was close.

Stevie jumped, her heart made it's way into her throat for the brief second of panic.

"Yeah" Stevie clutched her phone and made her way to the bed room.

"Good news?" Alex walked after her, her brow furrowed.

Stevie stopped at the door way and clung to the frame as if would help the new situation.

_She's in danger, again, she's still recovering... don't tell her!_

_But there is a way she can protect herself if you tell her. _

_Don't tell her. Do not tell her._

"Yeah" Stevie bit her lip, shading her face away from Alex's while she thought of how to create the allusion of safety. "Mason is in custody and we're gonna be interrogating him... again..." Stevie gulped thickly.

_It's not an exact lie, you're only telling her half of the facts._

_But Al asked about the phone call. _

_You LIED. _

Alex crossed her arms tightly.

"You seem, unsure" Alex gave her an unimpressed look.

"He's got a lawyer _now_, making it a tad harder, but not impossible to get him"

The moment of suspicion passed.

Alex wrapped her hands around Stevie's abdomen, hugging her from behind and kissed her neck.

"Good luck" her voice lingered on the shell of her ear.

"Mm-hmm" Stevie felt her knees buckle, the fact that she'd lied to the one person she cared about came hammering down on her composure.

_How can I possibly LIE to HER? I just did and now I feel shit._

Alex trailed her fingers down the other side of Stevie's neck, tickling the skin and teasing the Detective to turn around.

"I..." Alex began and rested her head on Stevie's shoulder.

Stevie gripped the edge of the door frame tighter.

_Don't do it. _

_DO NOT TRY ANYTHING. _

Alex brushed her hair back and Stevie screwed her eyes shut. As much as her body seemed to love the contact, the lie kept searing into her flesh.

"Stevie" Alex almost groaned the word when the Detective didn't turn.

_It's your funeral. _

Stevie turned sharply and planted a chase kiss on Alex's parted lips. Alex slid her hands around her neck and leaned into the contact. Stevie cursed herself.

The Detective pulled away, winded and shaky.

It had felt wrong, dirty.

"I need to get ready" Stevie's voice was rushed as she sped walked into the room and threw on fresh clothes. Alex stood, touching her lips tenderly where Stevie had crushed them against hers. They'd been soft and tender not harsh, with the taste of liquor and meat like Mason's had.

Alex felt numb to the fact Stevie had walked off afterwards, she was still euphoric about the fact she'd felt safe, for once in her life, the contact shared with another human being had felt right.

Stevie pulled on a black blouse and rolled the sleeves up with a shaky touch.

The rush of want, frustration and lust had left her unable to fathom how she was feeling and why her body insisted on trembling in maddened state of energy.

Tugging on a pair of dark (to the extent of almost being black), skinny denim jeans, Stevie searched her room for a pair of socks.

"Looking for these?" Alex tossed her a pair of black socks and Stevie caught them with one hand, even if she was shaken, she still retained her acute reflexes.

"Thanks" Stevie sat on the bed to pull them on and then searched for her shoes.

Alex leant on the door frame watching her franticly search for a pair of shoes that were in plain sight near her dresser.

"How did you make it as a Detective if you can't even spot a pair of shoes" Alex's voice held a tiny hint of humour among the tease.

Stevie stood up straight and didn't meet her gaze.

"Hey" Alex walked over to her and wrapped her hands around her waist. "You seem jumpy"

Stevie winced but Alex let their lips graze.

_You think? I JUST LIED TO YOU THEN KISSED YOU! _

"Eh, I'm just a little, erm, I was up early" this limp excuse seemed to wash.

"Well, I have an idea that can combat that" Alex hummed and pecked Stevie's lips.

Stevie felt her heart sink but thud with a passion on it's way down.

"Really?" Stevie tried her best to flirt back but knew the faster she got out of the house, the faster the whole thing would be sorted. Her phone sounded again.

"Work calls" Stevie pulled back and upon spotting her shoes, she pulled them on and bolted to answer the call.

"_Are you on your way Nichols or am I gonna have to.."_

"Dean, shut the hell up, I'm on my way now"

Alex stood at the doorway of her room and smiled at Stevie, who continued to shout abuse at her partner on the way out.

"Al, I'll erm see you later" Stevie waved a quick goodbye and snatched her car keys from the side table before leaving.

Alex bit on the inside of her cheek and frowned.

Stevie had seemed okay before the call or before the kiss.

_Does she even like me? Well she did kiss you. Only becouse you made it hard not to. Oh God, she really is straight and I just kissed her twice and she rushed out of the house... GREAT you've just made it awkward. _

_Good one Alex. _


	11. Chapter 11

**So am I keeping you entertained? All comments welcome, good and bad.**

* * *

><p>Weaving through traffic, Stevie soon came to the conclusion, the day was too bright.<p>

A lucid ache played at the back of her worn eyes as the sun glared at her through the windscreen.

Her fingers were wrapped tightly around the steering wheel and her gaze was fixed on the car ahead of her.

Turning off Broadway and onto Lafayette Street, Stevie had a pretty good idea where she was headed as soon as she saw the blue and red flashing lights ahead of her.

Parking outside the China Town Brasserie, Stevie turned off the engine and let out a long sigh.

Stevie got out of her car and locked it with the flash of orange lights. The smell of dumplings and spices wafted in the air around her, a few passers by looked at her as if she was their personal enemy, brushing of their looks, she walked down to the patrol car further down the street.

Stood in a dark grey t-shirt covered with a black bomber jacket and black jeans, Dean was talking with Khoo.

Khoo nodded her head in Stevie direction and Dean span around.

"Nichols" he greeted her with a chin jerk.

"Dressed casual?" Stevie ducked under the tape, zoning off the alley way the body was dumped in.

"It's hot" Dean shrugged and Khoo perked up.

"Same M.O as Mason, but the vic is a woman" Khoo guided Stevie over to the body.

Stevie winced and covered her nose with her hand.

"Urg, how long has she been here?"

"Over night, but what you are smelling is raw fish" Khoo added a matter of factly.

Stevie glanced at the dumpster and grimaced. Nausea set in but Stevie battled against it and knelt by the body to inspect the injuries.

Her eyes ran over the victims spilled innards. The flesh was crusted over with dry blood and her ribs had impaled the remaining skin.

Stevie looked at her face, her eyes were screwed shut and her mouth slack.

"Was she raped?"

Khoo sighed sadly and nodded.

"You know as I'd said I'd have fun with this case... I regret I said it" Khoo sniffed and looked at Stevie, her eyes filled with a sorrow that was alien to the M.E. She spoke for the dead, but today she really just wanted to go home to her cat and vomit.

The woman was Asian, but her skin was slightly lighter in complexion, even after death. She was in full rigor mortis, her body was frozen, like she'd stretched out to look at the sky.

"I.D?" Stevie glanced at Dean and he shook his head.

"So we gotta Jane Doe" Stevie sighed and slipped on a pair of gloves from her pocket.

"Hey, Doc" Stevie grabbed the attention of the M.E as her eyes roamed across the victims neck. There lay a slash so deep that it divided the skin and muscle and cartilage."This killer slit her neck"

"Oh I know, it severed the lumen of the trachea" Khoo's voice was bitter.  
>Upon further inspection Stevie saw the pearly surface of the cervical spine.<p>

Stevie recoiled, but the wound got her thinking.

"I can practically hear the gears going, what you thinkin'?" said Dean as he shifted from one foot the other.

"This killer is definitely Mason's buddy but slitting her throat? Mason got straight to the chow down once he'd raped them... this guy probably slit her throat, then ate her, but where does the rape come in? This guy probably slit her throat becouse he thought better to kill her before eating"  
>"Respect?" Dean added and Stevie got to her feet.<p>

"Probably"

"They techs have gotten foot prints from around the body... Doc when do you think you can get the body done?"  
>"This afternoon probably" Khoo had her hair tied back in a neat bun.<p>

"Great" Dean grinned at her and Stevie stared at the body, transfixed on the pool of congealed blood.

"Nichols?"

"Huh?" Stevie snapped her attention from it's crimson appeal.

"Door to door?"

"I don't really wanna today..." Stevie ran a gloved hand through her hair and looked down at the Jane Doe.

"There's a lotta stuff we don't wanna do Nichols, but today I'm feeling like a bitch, so come on" Dean huffed and ducked under the tape.

Khoo shrugged at Stevie and made a phone motion with her fingers up to her ear.

Stevie smiled faintly at the M.E before ducking under the tape and peeling off the gloves like old skin. The powder stuck to her hands in irritating clumps.

"Oh, I love this place" Dean had already stuffed his gloves into his pocket and beelined to the Brasserie. Stevie wove past the crowd of on lookers, a few old men were grumbling at each other in Mandarin. A teenage girl and her friends looked Stevie up and down as she followed her partner.

"_Really_?" Stevie smirked as Dean motioned for her to walk inside with him.

"I'll buy you breakfast, come on" Dean's angular face was the definition of excitement. Stevie was soon taken back to Alex, breakfast... she hadn't even had time to eat it. Her stomach ached with the fact.

"Let me guess I should try the dumplings?"

"Oh my God yeah, the are perfection, this place has a tiny café in it too" Dean let her step in first then cut in front of her to greet a waitress.

"Dean!" her voice was squeaky and she carried a wooden tray.

"Hey Su" his accent seemed out of place but charming in this eastern wonderland.

"Table for two"

"We're on the job" Stevie hissed and he scoffed.

"Like that ever stopped us, what about that beer the other day"  
>"Good point"<p>

"More like good pint, eh, get it, eh, eh" he nudged her and Stevie rolled her eyes.

"Just move it"

Su led them to a small booth, the red leather was worn and the red lantern above them set a tiny glow over their skin.

"So" Dean picked up the menu engraved in a wooden slat, after thanking Su. "Mason's buddy, who do you reckon we should be looking for?"

"Someone who is a twisted fuck" Stevie hummed her words as her eyes roamed the neat etched lettering. The only twisted fuck she could really think of was herself.

"I gathered that much Nichols, I mean we could work off the foot size, hell what if we find DNA on the body? That isn't Jane Doe's I mean"

_How can somebody be this God damn chatty in the morning? _

_Oh wait that's right, Dean. _

"Let's not get ahead of ourself, the world isn't that kind"

"What about saliva? We got Mason through that"

"Yeah" Stevie trailed off and she soon decided to have sweet and sour dumplings and some tea, she didn't feel up to much, it was almost like her body hated her for what she'd done.

"We'll ask Mason" said Dean as he set his menu down with a sharp clap against the wood of the table.

Stevie felt her heart skip a beat and the slow poison of disgust seep into her skin as the name rolled off his tongue.  
>"Yeah, we will"<p>

"You seem out of it" Dean frowned at his partner. Her eyes seemed darker than usual, her movement seemed wounded.

"Oh, do I?" Stevie gulped, her throat had dried.

"Yeah, everything okay at the Fort?"

Stevie smiled at his name for her shitty home.  
>"Dean, what would you do if someone you suddenly cared about was in danger but you were responsible for telling them?" Stevie hated her vulnerability around this man, he had been her best friend since the beginning.<p>

"I... I dunno" Dean scratched at the stubble around his jaw. Stevie then noticed the dark circles around his eyes. She'd been so caught up in her own problems, she suddenly felt hideous for not picking up on his appearance earlier.

"What's up?"

Dean shook his head and twitched his index and middle finger to beckon Su over to them.

"I'd tell her if I were you" Dean gave his partner a stern look, this look dissolved into a kind smile when Su skipped over, like she'd stolen all the optimism in the world.

"Let me guess, pork dumplings" she grinned at Dean like he was the best man in Manhattan, according to some, he was.

"And for you Cuòguò?"

Stevie ordered the sweet and sour dumplings, along with a pot of tea for the pair of them.

Stevie looked down at her hands then back at Dean.

"I've not exactly told her" Stevie's voice was hushed.

"So this killer is about and Alex doesn't know about it"

"Listen, I feel shit about it, I just want to make it right"

"Then tell her Stevie"

"I don't want her to worry, not again... besides it's highly unlikely this guy will know where I live"

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose.

"They can find out very easily Stevie" his eyes grew darker as he continued. "The Bane murders"

His posture soon slumped, like he'd been defeated in an instant. Stevie now saw how haunted Dean was. "The fifth crime scene, the south of town, I was working it with Fletch, my partner at the time, it was old abandoned factory, you know all the machinery, the body was hanging from a meat hook, chewed on like a stick of salami, I was already a little shaken up from the previous bodies, so this one just made me wanna barf... the suspect we'd been chasing was hiding out, waiting for us"

Stevie suddenly felt cold, like her skin had been ripped open and caressed with ice.

"He leapt out, knocked me and Fletch out, when I woke up, he was havin' a happy chow down on Fletch" Dean gulped thickly "that bastard killed one of my best friends, I tried to run, but he spotted me, gnawed on my leg, good fuckin' thing I still had my gun, I blew his head in"

As Dean finished the food arrived, with the clank of plates the conversation hushed.

"Later that week" Dean began to stuff food into his mouth as if he wanted shut him self up. "One of his Brothers came to my house, trashed the place and waited until I came home, when I did..."

Dean looked up at Stevie with hard eyes.

"They can find you" he sighed and continued to eat. Stevie picked at her food and resorted to drinking the tea.

"I'll tell her"

"Good" Dean mumbled through a mouthful of dumpling and gave her a wounded smile.

* * *

><p>The bath of heat that boiled the streets of New York didn't faze Alex too much.<p>

Her skin was clammy and her body seemed almost dead while she walked down to the subway.

This mortal approach to life hindered her. Alex knew how to function in mortal society, sure she did, the only thing she couldn't stand was the inhabitants of the city. Men walking with briefcases, black suits and smart hair looked down at her with corporate eyes.

Women in day dresses and lugging shopping bags seemed all the same to her.

Alex took a sharp turn and jogged down the steps of the subway, the shade in which the underground system thrived was a blessing to her skin.

Cutting though the faceless crowd, Alex searched for the train that would take her back to her side of town.

Alex soon found the platform and leant against the tile wall, watching the hordes the either late or impatient people barge past.

Her gaze was averted from their rude mannerisms to a pair of dark brown eyes stood on the opposite platform.

Alex felt uncomfortable under their hooded glare. She gulped, feeling more than exposed. The stranger took out a cigarette from their back pocket and pinched it in between their lips. Striking a match, they light the cigarette and wafted the small match in the air so the tiny flame extinguished. The match dropped to the concrete and let out a string of grey smoke from it's smouldering nib.

Taking a long drag then blowing out the smoke, they gave a simple nod in Alex's direction and the train came trundling down the track.

Alex tried to spot them through the passing windows and sitting people, but her body remained frozen in fear of their simple gesture.

That nod had taken such little effort, but meant so much.

It was as if to say, I'll be back.

Alex gulped thickly and boarded the train with shaky limbs.

* * *

><p>Groggy and nauseated from the various amounts of tea she'd consumed Stevie stood at the foot on the metal gurney in the morgue.<p>

The circulating chill healed the sure sun burn on her bare arms.

Dean stood next to her, his face looking ghostly in the UV glow.

"So is it a different killer? Are they linked? Are they..."

"Let me do my job Dean" Khoo snapped, rubbing her temple. The heat of the afternoon was surely going to kill them if they went back out there.

Khoo's nose twitched, this tiny habit always appeared when she was about to perform an autopsy.

The M.E pulled on the blue paper mask along with a blue apron.

"This may get a tad messy" Khoo's voice was muffled, but the two Detectives stepped back from the gurney and Khoo began. Her assistant Porter had already taken photo's of the body and was pinning them up in the background.

Khoo wielded her scalpel with grace that Stevie could barley muster with a wand.

Dean turned his back to the scene and let out a long breath.

"Sink if you're going to vomit Dean" Khoo looked up briefly at him. He held up his hand in signal that he'd be fine.

Stevie stood, biting on the loose skin of her lip while watching as Khoo removed the remaining organs from the corpse.

"Whoever they were, they must be full" Stevie grimaced as she noticed there was no heart just lungs, the stomach was also missing, leaving a gaping pink and dark red abyss.

"Not necessarily" Dean huffed and stuffed his hands into his jacket pocket. "Dependant on their breed Werewolves need to eat constantly to sustain their life force, those tend to be mutts, pure breeds only need to feed every full moon"

"Someone's being doing their research" Khoo mumbled, Dean scoffed.

"You could say that"

"I just did" Khoo pointed out a matter of factly and winced as the lungs landed on a separate metal tray with a bloody, wet slap.

"Now I'll probably have to call up some of my contacts to recreate the layer of skin that's been eaten" Khoo motioned around the fleshy hole with ease. "What did you do to be killed?" Khoo whispered and Dean span back around.

"She probably didn't do anything!" his voice echoed in a harsh snap around the tiled room.

"Easy!" Stevie warned and Khoo hummed pondering on his aggression.

"So you think see was just random?" Khoo pulled the mask down and glared at him.

"Werewolves don't think, they just do whatever they fuckin' want" Dean pulled at his hair.

"Mason killed Hank becouse he'd slept with..." Stevie frowned, she'd completely over looked the fact. "Slept with Alex" she soon loathed the victim.

Dean huffed.

"So you are thinking she has a connection with Alex Russo as well?"

"I dunno, she is a Jane Doe... I'll show Alex her picture" Stevie felt her stomach churn.

"That'd be for the best" Dean's voice was croaky.

"Evidence have released her phone and wand right?" Stevie was already at the door.

"Yeah" Khoo and Dean spoke in unison.

"I'll get them for her, she's been a little stare crazy without them" Stevie then pushed the large glass doors open and walked down the glass corridor to the elevator.


	12. Chapter 12

**I've been a busy bee and have been working on this at hyper speed to keep you entertained.**

**Enjoying it? Anything I've missed out? Let me know.**

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><p>Setting down Alex's phone and wand on the passenger seat, Stevie started up her car.<p>

The engine purred to life and she checked the rear view mirror, all she could see beyond the back window was an army of parked cars.

Reversing out, she tried to remember the way to Alex's apartment, but then a thought caught that plan by the neck. She should really do with calling by Erin Fang's house first.

The frail looking old woman was her closest thing to a mother in recent years. Erin had found her, stumbling through the icy March night, sodden in blood and a wreck. Erin had known who she was, the eight-five year old Sifu had taken her in out of kindness and determination to make her life better. Stevie needed her advice.

Stevie rubbed her eyes and turned sharply from the parking lot and headed back towards China Town where Erin happily resigned in a small town house across from the Gardens.

Stevie pulled up outside Erin Fang's house.

The pearly brick reflected the sun's dusty rays, small birds sat in the crab-apple tree on her tiny front lawn. Stevie got out of her car, but hesitated on shutting the door while her eyes roamed her old home.

The battered wooden door creaked open and Erin stood, smiling at her from the porch. Stevie closed the door of her car with a dumb thud and locked it.

Jogging up the pebble path way, Stevie was taken back to the summers she'd spent raking all the stones back into place.

"Sifu" Stevie greeted and bowed in respect.

"Stevie" her almost British accent washed over the Detective, the tiny hints of her Mother Tongue clung in undertones.

Erin was originally from Taiwan, then she's emigrated to Britain for nineteen years of her life from the age of thirteen and then finally came to New York at the age of thirty two. Stevie had remembered all her tales of her life and of others Erin used to tell her.

"Erin" Stevie pulled the woman into a soft embrace, Erin smiled into the contact.

"You have come to seek my advice, like usual" Erin had felt the urgency of questions in Stevie's muscles.

"You make me sound like I use you" Erin's wise eyes scanned over Stevie with the beauty of intelligence.

"You are always welcome for advice, although it would be nice if you just came by to say hello" Erin walked back into her abode, with Stevie on her heel.

The house was dimly lit, all the walls were the bare pearly brick, Erin had said they held too much character to be painted over. The dark, grazed wood flooring creaked under their feet. Erin wore a thick, woollen cardigan despite the heat outside.

All the furniture in her abode was dark wood, almost accent in appearance. No matter how many times Erin had told Stevie to polish the wood in former years, it still persisted to look battered.

The side table in the hallway held a wicker basket, beside it a small burning pot of incense. The tang of citrus filled the air. In the wicker basket sat letters, keys and a small knife, it's purpose to assist the opening of the letters.

"You always did like to dwell" Erin was already sat in the sitting room, the red worn rug was her most favoured place to sit, even though she owned two dark brown leather sofas one facing the window and pressed to the back wall, the other sat, pressed back onto the right wall.

On the walls sat pictures of waves, painted in harsh blue and black ink, trees painted with pink ink and animals drawn in simple, yet striking blotches lines.

Stevie sank her hands into her back pockets."You've changed the pictures around"

Erin nodded, her eyes close, her limbs tangled in a meditation stance.

"Have you eaten?"

The question seemed to be eternal in this house.

"Oh, erm yeah I've eaten" the response felt empty, as well as her stomach, it felt as though someone had eaten the food at the Brasserie for her.

"Well there is always food in here" Erin's voice was a hum. She always liked to keep Stevie fed, probably a reaction from seeing her so broken upon their first meeting.

"Are you staying hydrated?" the aged woman's voice never nagged.

"Yeah" Stevie sat down on the sofa and looked around at the rack of wooden fighting poles on the wall. "Are you still taking in students?"

"I stopped many months ago" Erin rolled her shoulders, for a woman of 5'2 and looked like she could practically snap in half if knocked over, she was tough and agile as a teenager.

"Why? I thought you loved teaching?" by teaching Stevie refereed to the martial arts she herself had been introduced to when she first arrived in this house.

She would hardly call herself an expert, but it kept her in shape to say the least.

"The youth today... they don't show passion"

"And I did?" Stevie scoffed, remembering the first time Erin had made her practice the art.

"You're mind wasn't ready, your new body was still being re-born, I knew if I trained you from the first week, your body would always remember the art, even if your mind was wondering"

Stevie felt oddly sentimental.

"Do you still have the tattoo?" Erin rolled her neck, the sound of the air pockets in the muscle popping brought Stevie's attention to Erin rather than the ornaments in the room.

Silence.

Stevie shifted and nodded.

"Hmmm and has it served your flesh purpose?"

Erin had been angry at the fact Stevie had 'soiled' her left shoulder blade with the Japanese symbol for justice. She'd been made to be Erin's assistant in the classes for a year, in which she actually began to enjoy towards the end.

"It reminds me of _my _purpose" Stevie rubbed it absently.

"And that would be?" Erin opened her eyes and stared at Stevie.

"To speak for the dead" Stevie didn't avert her gaze from burning into Erin's.

"To bring a certain degree of peace" Erin finished for her and stood up, her demeanour of knowledge into the world made her seem much taller. "You do it becouse you can't find your own peace" Erin walked over to the window still and picked up the metal watering can to rain the water down on her plants.

Stevie scowled, but knew she was right, hell she was always right.

"I'm trying to find it Erin" Steve huffed and Erin turned sharply.

"_Trying_"

"What else am I supposed to do? Just go and arrest the first person I see who looks evil?"

"Look back into your memory, your brain takes in a lot more than it lets on"

"It's just a blur, all the time, all I see is a figure"

"Then become that figure" Erin pulled back her greying hair into a bun. Stevie sighed.

"This isn't what I came to talk about Sifu"

Erin walked from the room and into the kitchen. "Let me see, a case?" her voice was distant.

"Yeah" the Detective replied.

"Go ahead" Erin had to shout over the sound of clanking, Stevie assumed she was making lemon tea. Stevie knew it'd be easier just to walk into the kitchen.

Sure enough, Erin stood with her back to the door making the tiny net pouches to sit the dried lemon and other herbs in.

Stevie leant on the door frame and looked around the small space. The bamboo counter mats made her smile, many a time she'd been made to make new ones.

It was safe to say she missed living here.

"Do you still wake up early?"

"Yeah"

"I think your Mother would still like to know you are alive and well"  
>"I'd rather keep her out of my life, you are more than a Mom than she ever was"<p>

"I have to agree to an extent, she is very Western, very corporate in nature"

"So you did spy on her?" Stevie smirked.

"Yes, but I'd rather call it, observing" Erin wagged a finger and set the heavy iron tea pot on the stove.

"Now, tell me about this case" Erin turned with an interested gleam in her eyes.

Stevie ran a hand through her hair. "From the beginning?"

"Yes" Erin then walked them back into the sitting room.

After half an hour of tedious explanation, Erin stirred and rose to get the tea.

"So you like this girl...Alex?" Erin shouted from the kitchen.

Stevie felt a blush invade her once mellow cheeks.

"As in romantic feelings?"

"Yes" Erin then walked back into the room carrying a wooden tray with two china cups with steaming tea within them.

Erin sat back down with a grin.

"Love is love" Erin hummed and handed Stevie a cup.

"I didn't say I was in love with her"

"Your eyes told me, you mind always seems to be running without legs, your body knows what it wants"

"I want to protect her from this killer"

"You have to find solace for yourself first before you can protect her properly, I consider you blind at this moment in time"  
>"Blind?"<br>"You are protecting her without any knowledge for how to protect yourself, would you expect a warrior to go to battle without knowing how to fight?"

Stevie sipped at the tea and shook her head.

"Exactly" Erin patted her knee and set down her tea.

"So not matter what, according to you, I have to find my own killer before I can really do anything else?"

"Finally, I got through to you" she tapped her own skull then Stevie's. They sat in silence for a few minuets before the duty of her job consumed Stevie's thoughts once again.

"Do you know this girl?" Stevie then pulled out the photo of the Jane Doe and brandished it to Erin.

Erin studied her face, her almond shaped eyes hunting the photo and linking it back to her memory.

She knew everyone around this area.

Erin then looked saddened.

"And you don't?"

"Huh?" Stevie furrowed her brow.

"This is Addison Yoh" Erin plucked the photo from Stevie's hand.

Stevie knew the name, but couldn't place it's origin in her memory.

"You used to teach her, in the beginners class"

Stevie gulped thickly, nausea attacked her, the chills of sorrow soon crept up her spine.

"Yeah" Stevie looked down at her lap. "She used to be awesome, she's grown up one hell of a lot"

"As have you, yet I'm sure she would have remembered you"

Stevie bit on the inside of her cheek.

"That means the killer is linking himself to me, the killing are linked through M.O and the victim is always involved with Alex, I think the Chicago case was linked to Alex through the fact that she must have shown an interest in the victim on holiday or something"

"You have to ask Alex about it all, not matter how sensitive the topic is"

Stevie gave a pained nod.

"Mason killed Hank out of probable jealousy or he thinks he owns Alex... so this new killer, he's after me becouse Alex is living with me... I dunno"

"It's your job to find out Stevie"

Stevie took back the picture and drank the rest of her tea.

"I'm going to go to Alex's apartment, she said she wanted a few things, I'll call you" hugged Erin and rose from the sofa.

"Stevie, be alert" Erin got up also and kissed her on the cheek. "and keep safe"

"You know I will" Stevie brandished a charming smile and left.


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm loving all the great comments towards this, personally I didn't think many people would like it, but here I am on the 13th chapter. Thank you all for sticking with it.**

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><p>Stevie stood at the foot of Alex's apartment door. The wood was cracked, splintered from where she'd kicked it open.<p>

Fitting the key into the lock and opening the door, Alex abode lay in front of her.

Stevie walked into the room, glancing around at the light space.

It would have been a nice sight if it wasn't for the fact the woman she was falling for was raped in here.

Stevie gritted her teeth and walked across the sitting room.  
>A TV.<p>

She knew she didn't need one, but Alex seemed to be stare crazy without it.

Should she dare to take it out of the apartment?

Stevie decided against it and just headed to Alex's room. The Detective guessed it was the door with the shoe hanging off it.

Stevie pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The room was warm, the sun had shone in through the window and had heated the whole space. Stevie spotted the rough and worn photo album, the black leather was scratched.

Brushing her fingers over the cover, she then proceeded to open it.

The transparent plastic film made a crackling sound as she flicked through the pages of family photo's.

Alex tended to look pissed off in most of them.

That's when Stevie's eyes came to rest on a face, the olive skin, the brown curls of hair, she knew the face.

Max Russo.

She'd arrested him once, Stevie scoffed at the fact. This guy had been the talk of the PD for weeks, he'd managed to get out of a jail sentence of five years by pulling the innocent plea.

Alex was related to _him. _

_Ouch._

Stevie took the photo album and was about to make her way out when she heard another pair of footsteps. The heavy creak insured she wasn't alone.

Stevie dropped the album to the bed and unclipped her gun.

Clutching it with her left hand in steady aim she opened the door slowly with her right and took a breath. She could hear her heart beat in her ears.

_Aim for the chest, aim for the head._

"NY WPD drop your weapon!" Stevie span around aiming her gun at common chest level.

"Harper Finkle, holding a pan, don't shoot me!" Harper dropped the pan to the floor with a loud clank and held up her hands, with her eyes screwed shut. Stevie lowered her weapon and rose an eyebrow.

"_Really_?" Stevie clipped her gun back in the holster and crossed her arms tightly. "Who are you?"

"Harper Fi... I just shouted my name out, I'm Alex's best friend"

"Ah" Stevie rolled her shoulders and walked back into the bedroom to grab the photo album.

"Wait! What are you doing here, this was cleared as a crime scene... where's Alex?" Harper shouted and jumped as Stevie re-emerged from the room grasping the album. "Why do you need that?"

"Okay, enough with the shouting" Stevie huffed. "I'm Detective Nichols, I'm here collecting things for Alex, if you want to know where Alex is you'll just have to come with me"  
>Harper pondered on the thought.<p>

"How can I trust you?"

"I have a badge" Stevie unclipped it from her belt and brandished it.

Harper narrowed her eyes as if to challenge it.

"I can arrest you for obstruction if you want, then you can re think if I'm an actual officer or not"

"Okay, okay" Harper squeaked and Stevie gestured to the front door.

"Let's move it"

_Note to self: Alex has weird ass friends. _

Stevie drew the assumption from the fact this woman was dressed in a shirt that had a fluffy heart on it along with heart print pants and a head band with heart shaped deedily boppers on it.

Stevie pulled up outside her house and got out first. Harper rushed to get out of the car, as if it was poison and jogged to Stevie's side.

"Alex is in my apartment, you're welcome to stay with her" Stevie walked up the steps and opened the front door with a stiff click.

The pair walked into the sitting room, Stevie was the first to enter.

Alex took one look at the Detective and leapt to her feet.

"I brought you presents" Stevie's voice was almost wooden. Harper jumped at the sight of Alex sped over to give her a large hug.

Stevie set Alex's belongings on the sofa.

Stevie jerked her thumb back to the door "I have a job to do".

Alex looked saddened but nodded, Harper took no apparent notice and continued to hug Alex.

Stevie exited and dialled Dean's phone.

"Hey, Dean"

"_I was wonderin' when you were gonna call, get round here, Mason's getting cranky, so's his W.D.A" _

"I'll be around in... ten" Stevie unlocked her car and looked around her neighbourhood. People walked so contently in their day to day lives, did they know how little it actually meant to the world? Fate could kill them and she'd be the one fighting for them.

Her attention was caught by a hooded figure, leant on a lamp post and unceremoniously puffing on a cigarette. Clad in black, the figure blew out the smoke in perfect rings, kept their eye contact with Stevie.

"I'll call you back" Stevie ended the call and examined the stranger, the pair weighed each other up.

Stevie glanced down at her phone as it began to ring again, an unknown number rolled across the screen.

"Hello?" Stevie snapped and the sound of rustling cut through the line. Stevie declined the call.

The Detective looked back up and the figure had vanished.

"Fuck" Stevie glanced around frantically, they'd gone.

Wrenching open her car door, Stevie got in and drove with all intent to get to NY WPD under ten minuets.

Dean was hanging around the interrogation unit, stood strategically under the air con.

"Took your sweet time Nichols"

"Sorry" Stevie visibly shuddered, it was only know in hindsight that she realised how creepy the hooded figure had actually been.

Dean was already walking to the room as Stevie stood pondering.

"Come on Nichols" he made a very Italian gesture to the door.

"Calm it ravioli boy" Stevie rolled her eyes and walked into the room first.

Mason's eyes fell upon her first then upon Dean.

"What time do you call this?" the W.D.A's voice was sharp, he held an orderly tone. Stevie frowned at him, his black suit, white shirt and black tie made him look like an extra out of men in black.

"Wizard Defence Attorney, Justin Russo" he leant across the table, his extended hand was an empty offer of peace, Dean took it first. Stevie pulled her brows into a frown.

_Russo. _

_Fucking hell, this is going to be fun._

"Detective Dean" Dean shook Justin's hand firmly and Justin out stretched his hand to Stevie.

Stevie grasped his slender hand in a quick shake.

"Detective Nichols" Stevie didn't bother to disguise the apprehension in her voice.

"Let's get to this then" Justin sat down and so did the two Detectives.

"All the evidence is against Mason Greyback, I can see that" Justin glanced at the folder that Dean was about to brandish. "What I want to really clarify, _Detectives _is why you kept me and my client waiting"

Stevie sucked in her cheeks, could this guy be any more of an ass?

"Detective Nichols had work prior to this" Dean tensed.

"Doing what? I think your priorities lie with my client" Justin glared at the pair.

Stevie rolled her jaw.

"D.N.A" she cut in sharply. "It doesn't lie Mr Russo... are you also aware Greyback here, raped Alex _Russo_ that's why we are here, to justify _this _charge, Mason is already down for murder and assaulting an officer"

Justin set his jaw and nodded.

Stevie knew this guy was Alex's brother, it disturbed her to think her own brother was fighting for the man who raped her.

"Mr Greyback says it was merely an act of passion"  
>"Passion my ass" Stevie blurted and Dean stopped her.<p>

"These photo's beg to differ on that" with a calm tone, Dean then took out the hospital photos and pushed them across to the pair.

Justin gulped and pushed them away.

"These could have been acquired at any time"

"Cut the bullshit" Stevie rose from her seat, sending the chair screeching back. She jabbed her finger down at the sheets from the hospital, the rape kit, the dating of which the bruises were acquired and what stages of healing they were in.

"What you just said was highly unorthod..."

"This sheet blows any passion out of the water Mr Russo, see for yourself"

Stevie handed him the sheet, silencing his prude rant.

Justin gave her a unimpressed glare, but scanned the information, from his change in expression, the facts didn't lie.

"Can I consult my client?" Justin adjusted his tie and looked at the both of them.

"Yeah, we're giving you ten minuets" Dean stood up, he and Stevie walked to the door and let themselves out.

The distant ringing of a telephone hummed in the corridor.

"Is that Alex's brother in there?" Dean jutted his finger at the door.

"Yeah" Stevie paced.

"That's fucking messed up, I mean he's defending the man who raped his sister!" Dean hissed. "I woulda knocked his fuckin' block off if I was him"

"Alex seemed to have a good idea about sibling hatred the other night, she split me and Warren up from tearing out each others throats"

"So you're sayin' they don't see eye to eye?"

"Seems like it, I mean I asked Alex if she had anywhere to go and she said no... she must really not like him, to not stay with him after what she went through" Stevie leant back on the wall. "God, I really hope we get Mason for this"

"Russo is meant to be top dog though"  
>"Then we need to get our big gun out then and shoot the mutt" Stevie grinned, she had Boxer on speed dial. Abii Boxer was their finest Prosecutor, mean and lean she could verbally kill someone.<p>

"We'll only bring her in if it gets ugly" Dean noticed the door open, the pair fell silent.

Justin peered out at them.

"We're ready"

Stevie and Dean walked back in and resumed their places.

"And you are now pleading?" Dean asked and focused on Greyback then Russo.

"Guilty" Justin answered for him.

Stevie leant back in her seat.

"But, I do have some other points to mention" Justin looked over them with a cruel smirk. "Haven't you got anther body, different murder, but the same M.O?"

_It just got ugly_.

Stevie trudged to her car, coffee in one hand, keys in the other.

It was sunset.

Stevie had a rough idea how long she'd been trapped in the interrogation room, three hours seemed about right. Abii had come and torn Russo apart, it'd had been fun to watch, but Stevie skimped out on re living the other events.

She'd not eaten since that morning and her stomach was twisting, shrinking and leaving her nauseated to back up that fact.

Stevie had parked in three floor lot just down the street, the echoes of her footsteps were crisp in the cooling evening air.

Stevie unlocked her car and opened the door, the sharp clunk seemed to be the only real indication that she was the only one on the whole 2nd floor.

Her solitude was short lived, the clank and whine of the fire escape alerted her attention to the darkened corners of the lot.

Stevie felt the weight of her gun suddenly rouse her mind to the darker members of society.

The hooded figure from earlier?

Stevie set her coffee down and let her hand twitch over the clip securing her gun in it's holster. She could use her wand, but the problem was always telling if they were mortal or wizard.

Pulling out a fancy stick at a mortal would hardly faze them. A gun always made both members of society freeze.

Heavy foot steps echoed, closer and closer. Stevie caught her breath and almost laughed when she saw Justin heading in her direction.  
>"Detective" he started, pink in the face.<p>

"Yeah" Stevie leant into her car to set her coffee in the cup holder.

"Do you know where my sister is?"

"And your sister _is_?" Stevie toyed with him, now leaning on the door of her Volkswagen.

"Cut the crap Nichols" Justin frowned and crossed his arms.

"Off the record or are you gonna hold it against us?" Stevie narrowed her eyes.

"I'm done, okay, Boxer chewed me up and spat me out...so yeah, off the record" Justin peeled off his suit jacket and clutched it.

"Alex is at my place" Stevie forced herself to say it, the words burnt on their way from her lips.

"Thanks, I just wanted to know that she's safe" Justin turned sharply on his heel to leave when Stevie halted his exit.

"Why were you fighting for Mason? You knew the charges..."

Justin looked at his feet in apparent defeat.

"I've never been good at picking fights"


	14. Chapter 14

**Enjoy**

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><p>With baited breath and urgent nerves, Stevie opened the door to her humble home, a ritual performed with no love, just need.<p>

Stevie hadn't lived somewhere she loved ever since Erin.

The hinges creaked and Stevie's tired stare was met by two sets of equally worn eyes.

Harper and Alex were sat on the sofa, Stevie guessed she'd interrupted their conversation due to their pause in movement and breath.

The Detective set her keys down on the side table and made her way to the kitchen, all she wanted and needed was food.

The small light pinged on as she opened the fridge. The stench of salami and left over chopped onion soon hit her senses. The chill radiating from it's frosty innards reminded her that maybe her guests would also like a meal.

Her knotted stomach would have to remain tied.

"Have you guys eaten?" Stevie called out and waited for a response, tapping her foot against the floor.

"Er, yeah, we made omelets" Alex called back and Stevie rolled her neck.

_Of course they did, why wouldn't they. _

Stevie closed her eyes and steadied herself, she'd never felt so much like a stranger in her own home. Restricted to even breath without asking someone else if they were too.

Stevie fixed herself a sandwich composed of left overs and ate sat on the counter, her legs swung.

Alex was uneasy with the knowledge that Harper was back in her life. The fact should have settled her, but it just brought back pained memories of a more desperate time in her life.

Harper was her only bridge that linked her to the old world she'd been born, the new curious, healing life she was beginning to build seemed far better in comparison.

Harper had resumed their conversation, but Alex was lost, the presence of Stevie was like a knife to the bridge that was Harper, Stevie was slowly snapping the hope holding it together.

"So you get me?" Harper tore the raven haired wizard from her internal banter.

Alex forged a simple smile. "Totally"

What seemed like hours later, Stevie sat in bed, her back pressed against the back board.

The lamp sat on her bedside table flickered every once and a while, consequentially making the Detective constantly draw her attention to the lamp, then the shadows lurking around her room.

_Why are you so paranoid?_

_What are you looking for? _

_Who are you looking for? _

The clicks inflicted on her laptop key board filled the room with noisy tapping and the rustle of her bed sheets seemed too pronounced and loud to her tired mind.

Stevie assumed Alex was still trying to catch up with Harper. The only thing she had to catch up on was work.

All the paper work and new additions to the case file was wearing her down.

Stevie's ears then pricked up to the sound of the front door shutting.

Harper had left.

Stevie's attention was then drawn to her bedroom door as it creaked open and the light from the hall way flooded the once dimly lit space.

"Hey" Alex whispered. "Harper has gone"

Stevie halted her typing to direct a small smile at her.

Alex then moved wordlessly and sat on the end of the bed, cross legged and her eyes trained on Stevie.

The Detective closed her laptop with a click and set in on the floor.

Their distance seemed pained with their new born hostility.

"About earlier..." Alex looked at her lap. Stevie scanned her form, feeling almost robotic in her attempts to read her.

Stevie didn't speak, was all ears to what Alex had to say.

Her mind reeled to fill the space her self induced silence caused.

_Is Alex moving out? _

_Is she gonna say she's straight? _

_But she kissed back... I could have been a spare of the moment thing. _

_Has she found out about the new body? _

_The new killer? _

_Oh God Damn talk already!_

"Did you want it?" Alex plucked at the hem of her sweater.

Stevie sat taken of guard.

"Want...it?"

"When we... don't make this hard" Alex glanced at her, the hurt that laced the chocolate of her eyes made Stevie suddenly regret her dense comment.

"I never want to make anything difficult"

"Then tell me, did you kiss me becouse you like me? Or was it just impulse to shut me up and make me feel like less of a pathetic... victim"

Stevie furrowed her brow.

She struggled to place words without carrying out the physical display of affection. "I would never do something if I didn't mean it"

"Oh Christ, just say something that's not from a fucking fortune cookie" Alex snapped.

Stevie shrunk under her irritation, her own anger bubbled under her skin, she refused to let it out.

She'd never backed down... yet she felt so helpless under Alex's burning glare.

"Fine" Stevie regained an instinct, something that hadn't seen the light in years, submission to another human being. "I kissed you becouse, I have feelings for you"

Alex pressed her lips in a thin line, in thought.

Stevie felt her heart shrink.

A fear made her whole body go numb, this was the point when Alex completely tore her apart.

For that reason, Stevie shut herself out from people, she never made a move she never chased her heart becouse she knew it would end up wounded.

It was a stupid reason to, but it kept her on her toes.

Alex needed her fragmented emotion to collect.

"You like me?"

Stevie ran a hand through her hair. "Yes" as harsh as the word sounded, it was meant for sharp clarification.

The pair sat in silence once again.

Alex then broke out into a tiny chuckle. It was stupid to her. Why were they both so pissed off if they wanted each other? Their silence was suddenly hilarious.

Alex tried to stop herself from producing the waves of laughter she so needed to let out. Upon placing a hand over her mouth, the situation just got funnier.

Stevie smirked at the woman across from her.

"What's funny?" Stevie began to chuckle along with her, Alex's laugh was bubbly as it banished the harsh tension.

"This" she motioned between them. "Why are we so fucked with each other when we should be fucking each other"

Stevie let out a blurt of laughter at Alex's crass assumption.

"You're a little forward" Stevie grinned at her, the comment had made her heart leap, the feeling had made her veins electric with the rush of blood.

"Yeah well, it's better than being a human fortune cookie" she scoffed and Stevie mocked a hurt expression.

"I'm offended"

"Aw" Alex crawled across the bed and straddled the Detective. "Want me to kiss you better?" her voice lowered into a purr.

Stevie held her hips and sighed at the contact. Alex's slender frame melted into hers with ease, like their bodies had been born to fit, like a human jigsaw.

Stevie pouted and nodded, giving the saddest look she could muster under the surge of euphoria Alex was eliciting from her.

Alex leant in and with one swift movement captured Stevie's lips with hers. The contact wasn't needy and sudden like before, it was slow and held a small spark of new, unexplored emotion.

Their lips fit together in a lock.

The Detective's skin soon heated with the electricity from their contact.

Stevie pulled away first and Alex ran her hands into Stevie's unruly curls of hair.

"I think you may have to kiss me again, it didn't work... I still feel pretty shit" Stevie smirked and Alex ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the soft hairs tickle the nerves.

"Aww babe" Alex hummed and pressed their foreheads together.

Stevie pecked her lips softly and she felt Alex smile at the action. It gave her a kick, the burst of confidence made her ache to do it again.

Alex reconnected their lips and wrapped her legs around Stevie's lower back, pressing their bodies closer.

Stevie yearned Alex's skin, hidden under her clothes.

Alex ran her tongue in a slick movement to brush against Stevie's.

The intoxication of their movement made them oblivious to the room around them, nothing mattered, Harper could have walked into a the pair would feel no shame.

Stevie ran her hands under Alex's sweater, the tiny action made Alex moan into their kiss and Stevie continued until Alex's skin no longer felt just like another necessity to her body, but the very thing that connected them.

Then, the intoxication of lust soon gave way to a poison. The sickening knowledge of the bruises, the scratches, the pain Alex was carrying hindered Stevie's movement.

If the wounded skin was going to connect them, nothing would be washed away, their relationship would be born out of bitter scars.

Stevie stopped and pulled away, teeth gritted and touch trembling. Alex moaned in irritation and opened her eyes to witness Stevie's pale complexion.

"We can't" Stevie whispered and Alex frowned, the delicate change in expression sent a dagger to Stevie's heart.

"What?"

"I want to wait... until, this is all over" Stevie rested her head on Alex's shoulder. As stubborn as the raven haired wizard wanted to be, as much as she wanted to continue, she knew Stevie was right.

Alex drew a breath. "Okay"

Stevie closed her eyes tightly and hugged Alex close.

Alex then realised, it hit her like a train, she wasn't the only one hurting.

"Stevie, tell me" Alex whispered.

Stevie shuddered, she'd promised Dean to tell her anyway, but she'd tell her the good new first.

"Mason is going to jail" she spoke in a soft, careful tone.

"But that's not why you look like hell is it?" Alex cupped the side of Stevie's face.

"...There is another body"

Alex sucked in a harsh breath, like it would cushion the news.

"You think Mason did it?"  
>"No"<p>

"Another killer?"

"Yes"

_My own personal boogie man. _

"I knew the victim... we think he's connected to Mason, Dean is going to question him about it once we pull DNA from the body"

Alex looked over Stevie with sympathetic eyes.

"You knew the victim?"

"I used to teach her"

"Teach?" Alex sat by Stevie's side.

_What a way to kill a night. _

"It's a long story" Stevie ran a hand through her hair and gulped.

"I have time" Alex crossed her arms over her chest and listened intently.

Stevie sighed.

"Can I tell you in the morning?" Stevie felt her limbs grow heavier with the weight that she now carried.

"Sure" Alex kissed her on the cheek and tucked herself under the duvet.

Stevie did the same and Alex nested into her side.

The lamp flickered again and Stevie outstretched her arm to flick it off when her phone started the buzz, the sound shattered her intentions of getting any sleep.

It's rattling against the wood of the bedside table made Alex shove her as if to say.  
>'Answer it or I will'<p>

Stevie grabbed the device and answered it, her voice still thick.

"Nichols"

"_I've been watching_"

The voice was raspy, deep, like the caller had been running. His voice yet held something of a snakes, smooth and haunting, it crawled into the shell of her ear.

Stevie felt a chill down her spine and numb her nerves.

The devil breathed down her neck.

She'd heard it before, but couldn't place it, it was the voice of a nightmare.

"Who is this?"

"_I think you know who I am_"

"I wouldn't be asking if I knew would I" she sat up and Alex was suddenly alert too, watching Stevie's face turn from puzzled to irritated with fear.

Stevie felt her hear pulse, every breath she took hurt.

"_Always the smart mouth_"

"What do you want?"

"_I want to see you, have a nice catch up_"

Stevie felt vomit churn like butter in her stomach. The nausea set her on edge.

"And you think I'll come and see you"

"_I don't think you have any choice Stevie_"

Stevie squirmed.

"You have no control over me"

A lie.

A beautiful thought to think.

He had controlled her from the very moment his grey eyes fell upon her form. He had invaded her sleep for years, made her awake in a cold sweat, panic stricken.

The slither of his voice and the shaping of his accent, all allured the darker side of her humanity.

"_Oh, but I have, oh I have. Remember? You were wearing that grey shirt, your favourite_"

Stevie got out of bed, her skin crawled as ice infected the cells in her blood.

"You" Stevie hugged herself with her spare arm. Alex watched as Stevie trembled, helpless to do anything but stare.

"_Smart girl. Smart, smart girl. I've done something very bad Detective"_

Stevie felt tears sting her eyes as her voice screamed on her flesh. Memories of the blade on her throat, the cold metal of his knife.

Her throat twinged, the tissue flexed at the memory.

His weight pressed against her frail, broken body.

The heat of his breath as it touched her exposed skin, the marks her carved into her abdomen as she lay, screaming with out a sound.

The silent girl.

Like blood, the images of that night bled back, retracted and putrefied the old wounds.

His porcelain face, this icy flesh flashed across her mind like lightning and rumbled her with thunder.

"H_e is a excellent apprentice, I believe you had your own apprentice_"

"He? Who are you talking about?"

"_She was easy, I do hate it when they don't struggle, I thought you might have taught her better_"

"Who is you're apprentice?"

"_You took my boy Stevie Nichols. I took your girl_"

"You killed Addison?"

"_I would so love to see how you've grown. Did you like death?_"

"I enjoyed getting away from you"

"_You owe your life to me Stevie"_

"I don't owe you anything you piece of shit"

"_I've done something very bad Stevie_"

The line turned to static and then beeped.

Stevie dropped the phone, it clattered to the floor from her shaky touch. The back of the device split from the body and spilled the battery from it's insides.

The bleep cut out.

"Stevie" Alex jumped from the bed and rested her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't" Stevie backed away, her eyes haunted with black pools of ghosts, demons... a devil in the making.

Her skin was icy and her throat burned with the need to throw up.

The Detective ran from the room and collapsed into the bathroom, her body moved from the natural urge to vomit.

As she doubled over the toilet to let whatever she'd eaten spill like sand paper over her lips, Alex stood in horror.

"Who was that!" Alex jerked her finger in the direction of the room and her eyes scanned Stevie's shuddering form.

Stevie spat out the tang from her mouth and rested her head on the rim of the toilet, feeling the shame infect her being.

Stevie rose, her legs couldn't hold her weight and wobbled under the pressure. Her heart hammered against every rib like a pin ball, winding her.

Her shuddering became almost violent as her hand rested on the valve to flush away the bile in the toilet bowl.

The sound of rushing water hurt her ears.

It was like he'd opened up her mind and had found the real person inside, the teenage girl she had been formerly and killed her all over again.

_1:45am_.

Stevie rolled onto her back, the bed creaked with the shift of weight.

_The blade glinted in the candle light, I feel it's cold metal against my bruised skin._

_I don't make a sound, but I hear my skin crack and split under it's icy bite. _

Stevie gripped the sheets with with white knuckles.

_My blood is warm but the sting and tang of his breath over my wound hardly soothes me. _

_I can feel the shape, I feel it's curves and meaning. As I breathe the split skin moves with me, taking on a stinging, fleshy life force of it's own. _

_My limbs ache. _

_My heart throbs and tears well. _

_He is already atop of me, his forked tongue licks the wound with salt._

_Is he sobbing?_

_Is it me? _

_I feel the knifes in my palms, pinning me down like something to be dissected. The blood has crusted over and his breath looms over my neck. _

_The symbol in my skin burns as the fabric of his jeans rub harshly against it. _

_I let out a whimper. _

_His teeth gleam, almost like the blade in his hand. _

_I know I'm trapped. _

_I know I'm dead, so why am I still thinking he'll spare me?_

Stevie let out strangled gasps and kicked away the demon that loomed.

Her features twitched as she writhed.

_Stevie_ _his voice is a whisper, my name is a curse as it leaves this thin lips. _

_Stevie _

Stevie whimpered into the smothered air, her chest suppressed by a non existent weight.

Beads of cold sweat glistened upon her skin.

"Stevie"

The Detective awoke, panting, sat bolt up.

He was here.

Alex lay peacefully by her side, her breathing shallow, a kind rhythm.

Stevie frantically scanned the dark, for shadows.

For an instant her breath caught and her blood chilled. For an instant she thought she saw the gleam of white eyes in the corner of her room.

The monster had arrived, planted himself like a toxic seed in her mind, poisoning her nerves and her own judgement upon the world that had once been iron with her head strong ideals.

Abruptly her ears pricked to home in on a faint creak, the sound a tree makes when a rising wind causes the branches to sway.

She tried to rationalise the wound over the thunder of her heart.

She imagined the monster everywhere.

Even though the flickering light of her lamp supplied the room with a dusty light, he was waiting in her closet, under her bed, waiting until she turned off the lamp and took his chance to kill her in the vale of darkness.

He was waiting.

Stevie pulled her gun from the draw of her bedside table and clutched it in her hand.

Her rough breathing broke through the stuffy air.

Stevie slunk from the warmth of her bed, she walked away from it instantly, the tension, the fear of two hands grabbing her feet was too believable.

If he was here, he was here for her, not Alex.

The sound of her bare feet padding across the floor didn't disturb Alex's slumber.

Stevie gulped, the barren walls of her throat welcomed the saliva.

Stevie opened the door of the room and walked out into the chill of her house, her eyes battled the dark with adrenalin.

She knew she was emanating fear out for the demons to smell.

Holding her gun out with two, shaky hands she walked to the front door and clicked it open. It must have rained becouse the damp stench and the cold wind was harsh against her skin.

Bare foot, she stepped out onto the street.

Gun at the ready.

The distant whine of a car horn and the dull, orange glow of the street lamps were her only companions, the very signals to tell her society wasn't a dream.

But neither was her boogie man.

The rustle of a nearby bush sent her heart racing as she twirled in the direction and pointed her gun frantically at the sound. The hiss of a cat confirmed it wasn't a danger. Stevie ran a shaky hand through her hair, the tiny warmth of reassurance toyed with her.

The call had been real.

Then as she turned back to let her tired eyes roam the street, the apartment blocks that caged her in, across the street stood a hooded figure, black and spectral.

Stevie heightened her aim and he waved at her, the glint of a blade in his right hand.

Stevie twitched and pressed down the trigger.

On a another take of his figure, he was gone.


	15. Chapter 15

**It's so easy to get carried away with writing. This was only meant to be 10 chapters long. Oooops. Enjoy.**

_The hunter seldom realizes when he his the one being hunted_.

Today, sat at her desk, with shadowed eyes and pale skin, Stevie was perfectly aware she was prey.

She knew she still had to tell Dean and Khoo about the call, she knew she had to tell them she knew who the Jane Doe was, she had to risk her past to save her future.

For now, Stevie felt relatively safe sat in front of a case file and sipped at her coffee.

"Nichols" Dean approached with a kind face and clutching a baby pink box.

Stevie looked up at him with a poker face, her eyes fixed on his mystery item.

"What's in there?"

"Doughnuts, want one?"

"Trying to fatten me up?" Stevie eyed the box as he set it down on her desk.

"Classic cop food, I see you have a coffee, so yeah, indulge yourself" Dean opened the lid and the plucked one of them up into his gasp.

As he perched on her desk and ate, he soon took note of her worn features. The purple rings around her eyes and her pale complexion.

"You okay?"

Stevie wasn't listening to him, she was still weighing up her options.

Dean prodded her.

Stevie flinched, as if he'd just pulled out a gun. "Huh?"

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Oh" Stevie rolled her neck. "Not much"  
>"Care to tell me why?"<p>

"Not here" Stevie mumbled and hugged her mug to her palms, the heat was a blessing to her other wise chilled touch.

Dean rose his eyebrows.

Stevie sipped at the liquid and peered at him.

"I want to speak with Mason, alone" she finalised and got up. Setting her mug down onto the desk with a solid clank and walked towards the elevators.

"Where are you goin'?" Dean shouted after her, his voice rising above the buzz of voices and the multiple rings of phones.

"Khoo" she called over her shoulder and pressed the down button harshly.

"But I thought you said you wanted to see..." Dean started but he was cut off when she disappeared into the elevator.

Stood in the morgue, kept company by six bodies in the box freezers behind her, Iris Khoo was at home in her ice land.

She heard the doors open with the rubber whoosh.

"And you have come to see becouse..." Khoo turned and saw Stevie's haunted face.

"You guessed didn't you" Stevie rested her hand on the empty metal gurney.

"Guessed what?" Khoo knew from Stevie's haggard expression she was talking about her own murder. She'd known about the case for years.

"You figured out, somehow you guessed that I'd died, that I was... murdered"

Khoo bit on her bottom lip.

"Stevie, I was still studying in collage when it happened, it was a huge thing for a girl to be murdered, found at the scene, then vanish"

Stevie clutched the side of the metal slab.

"I looked into it yes, but only when you turned up working here I really made the connection"

"So can you _help_ me" Stevie sighed, this reaction knocked Khoo off guard, she was expecting fireworks.

"Help you?"

"Khoo, he's back" Stevie walked around the slab and face the M.E with burning eyes.

"You mean, you found your killer?"

"_Found_ him, he found me" Stevie sighed. "He rang me last night, I still need to scan the number in"

Khoo stood wide eyed.

"He found you?"

"He told me he murdered the Jane Doe" Stevie jutted her finger in the direction of the freezers. "It's been him from the beginning, I have this feeling in my gut, it's telling me it was all him"  
>"Personally, I wouldn't listen to my intestines" Khoo wagged her finger and Stevie rolled her eyes.<p>

"The Jane Doe is Addison Yoh"

Khoo scrambled for her report, dashing across the room to retrieve it, Stevie continued to talk.

"I knew her, I taught her in this martial arts workshop my guardian Erin ran"

The news was the equivalent of a pay check in Khoo's mind.

"So you two are linked"

"That's what got me thinking" Stevie had began to pace, her footsteps harsh against the tile. "Then when he called, he said... quote _You took my boy, I took your girl_" Stevie knew her voice was kind to the words, they sounded a lot more lethal coming from her boogie man.

"His boy?" Khoo span on her heel.

"I think he is talking about Mason"

"Mason? Wait so that's how it works... he somehow knew you'd be on the case if Mason killed someone?"

"This guy is smart" Stevie hated to admit it, it was like poison.

"Dean will want to know about this" Khoo already had her phone at the ready.

"I'll do it"

Stevie sent him a message reading:

_Morgue now, urgent._

Stevie slotted her phone back into her back pocket and stared at Khoo.

"So it's been his little game from the start? Why not get you before? No offence"

"Non taken" Stevie ran a hand through her hair. "He kept saying stuff about an apprentice"

"So he might have been waiting for a guy like Mason"

"Most likely" Stevie leant on the metal slab.

The doors burst open and Dean stood, pink in the face.

"What?" he panted and saw the two women's expressions. "What is it?"

"Jane Doe is Addison Yoh" Stevie started. "But that's just the beginning"

The three of them stood, after explaining what Khoo and Stevie had gone through to Dean, the trio began to correct everything they'd ever thought about the case.

Dean finished the call he'd made to the holding unit.

"Mason is ready for talking too" Dean leant back. "I hate thinkin' we've been barking up the wrong tree"

"So" Khoo had her arms crossed. "You think Mason is this guys apprentice?"

"I'm almost certain"

"Do you remember this guys face?" Dean cut in and Stevie gave him a cold glare.  
>"No" she stuffed her hands into her back pockets. "All I remember was being carved into and then stumbling through this damn alley, that's where Erin found me"<p>

"Hold up, did this even gather a case file?" this time Dean turned to Khoo.

"It must have" Khoo gave a sympathetic look at Stevie.

"Hey, talk about it all you want, it's not like I'm go cry about it" she huffed and perched on the slab.

Khoo looked at the door then at Dean."Dean could you possibly go and find it, the case file I mean?"

"Sure" Dean bolted from the room, his foot steps echoed.

Khoo gave Stevie a look, a dark, questioning stare.

"Carved into you?" Khoo's voice was sharp.

Stevie lifted her shirt over her head, she set the black t-shirt on the slab and felt the cool air of the morgue hug her exposed skin.

She knew there'd be a show and tell at one point or another.

Sure enough, etched into Stevie's smooth skin, sat as a red scar on her left side of her toned abdomen. The scar was rough, a jagged mark of circle with a line crossed through it vertically.

The muscle there had made the scar more prominent, it made it appear almost angry.

Khoo ran her thumb over the scar.

"If I press it, do you feel it twinge?"

"Go ahead and I'll tell you Doc" Stevie looked down as Khoo pressed it with a medics precession.

Sure enough, a tiny, barley painful twinge occurred.

"It didn't hurt, but I felt it under the skin"

"That means he damaged the tissue, did it used to hurt when you exercised?"

"It used to, years back, you know the first couple of months"

"Hmm" Khoo still had her palm pressed against Stevie's smooth skin.

"What are you thinking?"  
>"He must have hurt other people, left the same mark"<p>

"Probably" Stevie suddenly felt too exposed, stood in a bra with a M.E that was far more than pretty seemed to play at her mind.

"You better put your shirt back on, you'll catch your death"

Stevie smirked.

"Okay, I heard what that sounded like" Khoo blushed "I could have said erm well, urg" the frustrated mumble added to the comedy.

Stevie pulled her t-shirt back over her head, chuckling.

"Poor choice of words, I liked it" she adjusted her shirt and flattened the creases, the t-shirt clung to her athletic frame kindly.

"Now" Khoo fumbled with her words, trying not to say something death related was hard, she was an M.E.

"Did he inflict anything else or do anything else?"

"He.. pinned me down, with two knifes in my palms"  
>"Did he recite the lords prayer?"<p>

"No, I was too busy trying not to die to listen to him" Stevie huffed, Khoo frowned at her. "Okay, sorry, it's just this guy really fucking freaks me out"

"So it's his signature" Khoo had began to pace. "We're looking for someone who is power hungry"  
>"It'd make sense, Mason is driven like that"<p>

"He marks his victim, lets them suffer, submit under him and then he kills them"

"Sounds about right" Stevie hugged herself.

"He probably considers himself the Grim Reaper, something like that, someone who can judge over death"

"Mortal or Wizard?"

"Wizard, if he was a mortal, I don't think you would have gotten out of there, they tend just to ride on impulse of the kill"  
>"So you think... he brought me back to life?"<p>

"Most likely, he probably sees it as a game, he likes to toy with victims"

"Well I'll be ready" Stevie assured herself of that.

Dean entered the room again brandishing a file.

"Obviously the case was never closed" Dean had a crooked smile upon his lips. "You ran off and the killer made good work of covering his tracks, it says here, your Mom was notified, but quote, 'seemed disinterested'"  
>Khoo frowned when Stevie shrugged.<p>

"She never liked me, she was too wrapped up in work to care, Warren was the only one who came to find the truth"

"Yeah, it says here, 'Warren Nichols, brother of the deceased pursued the case along with Detective Tam and Isakk'" Dean closed the file and tossed it onto the gurney. "Those guys are long gone, retired years ago" Dean commented.

"Yeah, I made sure everyone on that case forgot about me" Stevie shrugged. "I'm not supposed to be here remember"

"You have balls" Dean punched her in the arm lightly in affection of her actions.

"We need to track that number" Stevie handed Dean her phone. "Can you do it, I have Mason to talk to"

With that the Detective exited.

Alex and Harper both sat in Shake-a-shack, huddled in the far corner of the coffee shop and spoke in low tones.

Harper cuddled her mug of tea like her life depended on it as Alex spoke.

"Then she just dropped the phone and went to throw up... she's not telling me anything"

"Well she is a cop, I mean you've got to take that into consideration"

"Harper... she'd tell me"

"Why is _she_ so important now?" Harper's voice stung.

Alex nearly slammed her coffee down.

"I'm living with her"  
>"You've known her for what? A week?"<p>

"Oh, so this about you now?"

"Yeah, I was worried sick when I came to your apartment and saw it swarming with police... listen, it's not like Stevie is a bad person, I mean first impressions always stick with a person, she pointed a gun at me! But that's not the point... I just want to see more of you"  
>"So I can't be concerned about another person but you" Alex paced her words. "I care about her and I care about you too, but she is the one who got a call last night and looked like hell right after it, she is worried about something, this morning she didn't even say bye to me, she just went"<br>"Maybe her job is taking her over, it's common with police officers, the job soon becomes their only concern"

Alex set her mug down.

_So much for me being her only concern_

As selfish as it sounded, Alex had honestly felt like Stevie would do anything for her.

"I just don't want to sit around and feel like someone on the side" Alex confessed. "I want to mean something to her, I want to be someone"

Harper winced, her best friend was collapsing in front of her all becouse of a Detective.

"Then make yourself someone" Harper gave her an encouraging smile.

Stevie walked down to the interrogation unit. The path seemed too tedious to her.

Pressing her palm on the door, she opened it and stood one to one with Mason Greyback.

"Can't get enough of me can you Nichols?" he jerked his chin in her direction.

"Oh yeah like I've been waiting for you all my life" Stevie sat down, the chair screeched against the floor. "But I know someone who has" her voice lowered.

Mason narrowed his gaze, his face was thinner, his accent seemed rougher to her now.

"What are you talking about?"

"I got a call last night, this guy said you were his apprentice, you know someone who'd make that assumption?"

Mason gritted his teeth.

"Apprentice?"

"Yeah" Stevie stared at him, taking in every little fidget, every breath he took as his chest rose and fell.

A silence fell between the pair.

"Addison Yoh" Stevie spoke. "Do you know the name?"

"No" Mason huffed. "Listen, what's the point, you've already got me"  
>"No, I'm asking you so I can get this new guy, so shut the hell up thinking I'm still trying to spot light you"<p>

"Addison Yoh was eaten, her throat sliced, you know anyone with that M.O"

"No"

"You must have learnt it from someone"

Mason rolled his jaw.

"What so you just work from instinct, nah, you killed Hank for power, so, who convinced_ you_, who convinced you to kill for power? Wolves are _meant_ to be loyal"

Mason's nostrils flared.

"I don't want to say" for once Mason lost his arrogance. "He'll kill me"

"The only person this guy wants to kill right now is me"

Mason's gaze shot up.

"You?"

Stevie leant back, the chair creaked."Why do I get the feeling he told you about me"

"He said... he said you were the only one who fought back"

"That's a start, why did he pick you?"

"He saw my art... he said he saw a lot of himself in me"

"So he's an artist?"

"No"

"Then what is he?"

"A monster"  
>A knock on the door broke the air.<p>

"Nichols" Dean popped his head around the door. "We need you... he been any help"

"Kinda, I won't be needing you" Stevie stood up and walked out to Dean.

Dean hung in the corridor until Stevie closed the door.

"Yeah?" Stevie looked at him expectantly.

"The number just came up as a dud" Dean wasn't finished, his face was still screwed up. "But, there an address"

Stevie's hear lurched.

"Address"

They began to walk.

"A tiny warehouse, off 7th it was in a message, sent a few minuets after the call"

"Why didn't I see it?"

"Human error" Dean shrugged as they walked through the double doors of the interrogation unit.

Stevie sucked in a breath, maybe it was meant for the police to find it, he wouldn't send her an address that was public, if he just wanted to see her.

"Me and Uri are gonna check it out"

"Uri isn't even part of the team!" Stevie stopped in her tracks. "I'm coming with you, if there's any evidence there, I wanna have first call"

"As great as that is Nichols, I just can't risk it, Chief agrees"

"I don't care what _Chief_ has to say, besides does Chief even know about _me_"

"Don't be stupid, nah, he just thinks it's part of the case, which it technically is"

"So what were just gonna arrest this guy and lie about me even knowing Addison or the killer?"

"Well it's either that or you out yourself" Dean and Stevie stood glaring at each other, passing officers didn't bat an eye.

"What you need to do Stevie, is go home, get some rest and come back ready to negotiate with me, I'm in this with you, I'm not the enemy"

Stevie grabbed her cell from his hands.

"See you"

As she jogged down the steps, into the early afternoon light, her phone buzzed.

A message scrolled across the screen.

_Need to talk to you. Alex. _

Stevie sighed and quickly tapped a reply back.

_Okay see you at home._

The small green bubble of her text confirmed it had been sent, only for her phone to buzz upon the arrival of another message.

_Not at 'home' I'm at Erin's. _

Stevie sucked in a breath.

_How did you find out where Erin lives? _

Stevie walked to her car, clutching her phone all the way there.

_I know a lot more than you think Stevie. _

Stevie lolled her head back and opened the door.

"Of course she does" her sarcastic whisper was a comment that came with the baggage of regret.


	16. Chapter 16

Stevie's Volkswagen pulled up on the curb outside Erin's house.

It's pearly brick didn't seem so glamorous.

Stevie got out and slammed the door, they would have probably heard it. She hoped they heard it. Three kids ran into the gardens, laughing and talking in Mandarin giggles.

The large black railings of the gardens were decorated with charms and ribbons.

No charm or ribbon could ever protect her.

Stevie walked up the pebble path, her gun by her side, her badge glinting in the cloudy rays of sun and her phone sat in her back pocket.

The door opened and Erin welcomed her with a smile, but upon seeing Stevie's stone features, she knew something was wrong.

"Stevie"

"Is Alex here?" no bow, just a question, a harsh string of words from her lips. It was like she couldn't switch from her job to her life.

"Yes, sat in the sitting room, she's a nice girl"

"_Real_ nice" Stevie walked past Erin, her body tense. Erin watched after her and closed the front door.

Alex heard Stevie clear her throat and step into the room.

"So, when did you decide to dig?" Stevie stood with a face of thunder.

"When you gave me the shovel" Alex replied, calm and contented with the tea in her hands.

Erin walked past Stevie and sat by Alex.

"Alex has told me about the past week" Erin wasn't oblivious to the new situation, Alex had taken it upon herself to look into Stevie's past, she was truly wanting to be a part of this Detective's life. Erin found her passion raw and strong, she would make a good student.

"Yeah" Stevie stood with her arms folded. "I'm not going to _not _fight with you here Alex"

Alex set down the tea and Erin frowned at Stevie's anger.

"What's happened?" Erin cut through to Stevie.

"This" Stevie motioned to Alex sat on the sofa.

Alex furrowed her brow and crossed her arms also.

"Since when was I someone you didn't trust?" Alex snapped.

"I didn't say I didn't trust you, I'm just surprised you came here"

"You can't just tell me to stay in your God Damn house all the time, I can defend myself"

Stevie felt her breath cut out, her lungs shrunk and tears stung her eyes.

"It's _you _who can't cope" Alex jabbed.

Erin watched the pair quarrel, she knew the outcome would interest her.

"Me?" Stevie tried not to shout, she steadied her voice with a low snipe.

"Ever since that call, no ever since I've shown some form of recovery you've been distant"

"Oh maybe becouse I've got a case to solve" Stevie felt her words become wooden.

"No, maybe becouse you know you can't keep me, like some pet, a wounded bird that fell into your lap"

"It's not like that at all!" Stevie felt her words sink in like knives.

"What is it like then?"

"I want to protect you"

"You have a pretty messed up way of showing it"

"No, you're the one who's read me wrong"

"Please, enlighten me" Alex's eyes burned, her lips were pressed into a thin line and her back straight, like she was ready to pounce at her throat.

"He's found me" Stevie spoke past Alex, her brittle words were aimed at Erin.

Alex turned to Erin, the woman flinched at the news.

"Found you?"

"He's being playing me from the start"

"Can you please tell me what's happening!" Alex stood up and glared at the two women.

"I want to be someone, not just a damn victim who needs a hug and to be sent on her way, _please_, I want to be part of _your_ life Stevie, I think it's unfair that you became part of mine much faster"

Stevie looked down at the floor.

"How can I keep you safe if I can't keep myself safe" her voice was tiny. Alex suddenly saw something, a wounded girl, stood, helpless but still fighting, like she was trying to catch smoke with her bare hands all the time.

"Alex" Stevie looked up at her, her eyes gleaming with the pain of old wounds, like she was showing them to the world for the first time. Like she was hideous and disfigured under her authority. "I was killed" Stevie glanced at Erin briefly, the old woman gave her the subtlest of nods to continue. Alex sat back down, her flame blown out by Stevie's hurt.

"And somehow I came back to life, my murder has come back for me, he used Mason to get to me"

Alex frowned.

"Mason made his own trail... killed Hank, he raped you, so my killer could find me"

Alex gulped thickly, her insides rotted with the new born facts.

"So it's been a game?" Alex's jaw flexed. "Are meeting has just been for the benefit of a psycho?"

Stevie ran a shaky hand through her hair, she gave a bitter laugh at the reality.

"Last night, he called me... he's come back for me and I need you to be safe, I think he did this, he waited becouse he knew you'd be a lure, I'd be to busy protecting you, _loving_ you that I would be weak and drained when he came for me" Stevie pressed her back to the wall and hugged herself, looking at the two most important women in her life never seemed so painful.

"What do I need to do?" Alex rose from the sofa and gave Stevie a hopeful smile. She'd been in with Stevie since she broke down her apartment door. "I'm not giving him satisfaction"

Erin stood up too, her frail body holding a much stronger will.

"_Sifu_, I want to face him alone... Alex can you stay with Erin?"

"But I want to be.."

Stevie strode over to her and pulled her into a fierce hug. Her arms wrapped tightly around the wizard and pressed there bodies tightly together.

Stevie smiled as Alex buried her face in the crook of her neck and nuzzled the skin there.

"Alex, if you're safe, that's the biggest help I can have" Stevie coaxed her head up and kissed her lips tenderly. A blush crept up Alex's neck and cheeks, burning under her olive skin.

Erin grinned at the pair.

"Stevie" Erin looked over the girl Stevie once was, she was now a woman, a woman who she was proud to call her daughter. Erin never considered Stevie as anything else.

"Sifu?" Stevie noticed the look in Erin's eyes.

"Come here" Erin opened her arms and Stevie pulled her into a hug the woman's elderly frame held Stevie in a strong grip. "You've always made me proud, even when you got that tattoo" Erin laughed the word "I respected that you wanted to cast your own rod into the ocean... I love you, _my_ daughter"

Stevie gasped, it was an involuntary reaction as those words passed Erin's lips.

Stevie hugged her tighter, her heart hammered, swelling with a pride and a loyal love.

"And Alex" Erin pulled away from the hug and held the raven haired girls hand in a warm gasp. "You will make a fine student"

"Student?" Alex glanced at Stevie for help. Stevie shrugged, still flushed from Erin's comment.

"And a fine wife for my Stevie"

"_Sifu_" Stevie hissed and Alex laughed, as wise as Erin sounded and looked, the woman was still suffering from the tender hopes of old age.

"I will teach you" Erin patted the top of Alex's hand. "I only teach those with passion"

"Really? Sifu, please, Alex has..."

"Has some learning to do apparently" Alex winked at Stevie and grinned down at Erin.

Erin nodded once and looked at the two women.

"You both look hungry... are you staying for the night?"

"Do you want to?" Stevie moved to Alex's side.

"I'd love to"

"I don't like the idea of going back to my house just yet" Stevie shuddered and Alex kissed her cheek.

"I'm happy wherever you're happy"

"Perfect" Stevie watched Erin hobble into the kitchen, muttering something about soup.

"Alex" Stevie kissed the woman's forehead after she spoke her name like a prayer. "I love you"

Alex wrapped her hands around the back of her neck.

"That's good" Alex whispered and pecked Stevie's smiling lips. "Because I love you too"

Love is a word often used too much to describe little emotion between two people.

This time, love is a word that christened their true, blood feeling.

Bloated with the amount they'd eaten, Stevie and Alex soon decided to retire to Stevie's old room.

The New York sky line was just fading into twilight as they made their way up stairs, every step creaked with old charm.

"This is my room" Stevie felt a sentiment weigh her down as her hand ran over the handle.

The door swung open and the pair stood, peering in.

A double bed rested under the dark wooden framed window, a book self still piled high will books rested along the right wall and the walls were a dark red.

No desk, no left over posters, no sign that it was ever inhabited by a teenager. All those unruly days had gone. But Stevie didn't care, this was how she'd left the room and preferred to re-enter with a matured taste.

"Welcome" Stevie let Alex step in first, the stench of old books and peppermint incense hung in the air.

The bed was made up of black and white stripped sheets. Some of the black stripes were thin and some fat,

"She still kept the sheets" Stevie scoffed and walked over to the chest of draws hidden behind the open door.

"And my sword"

"Sword?" Alex stepped behind the door and peered at the dao sword, happily sat on top of the draws.

"A Chinese saber, willow leaf design" Stevie took the sword, still trapped it to confines of it's scabbard. "Erin gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday, I shit myself when she said I could practice with it, ha, I nearly cut my own head off"

"So you are a kung-fu master?"

"Ha" Stevie gave a crooked grin. "Kung-fu is the Holly Wood shit" her words were almost harsh.

"Karate kid?" Alex continued to tease.

"I'm the one holding the sword" Stevie pointed out.

"I wouldn't want to run into you in a dark alley"

_Definitely not tonight. _

Stevie set the sword down as if it would complain if miss treated.

"This was probably the first present I've actually ever liked and still really care for"

"Why didn't you take it with you, when you moved?"

"I wanted this to be the only place in the world that I could ever really be at home" Stevie sat on her bed and lay back.

Alex felt at awe.

The raven haired wizard lay down next to her, with the soft puff of disturbed sheets. They both peered up at the white ceiling, neither one really knowing what they were searching for with their distant gaze.

"Be careful" Alex sighed, the truth was hard to face when the only thing either of them wanted was each other at that moment.

Clinging on to the fact that it might be the last time Alex saw Stevie in one piece, it struck her, would she feel this every time Stevie would be working a case? Sat worried every night when Stevie would be working late, she loved the woman next to her, but did she really love the life they were going to make?

"Stevie"

"Yeah"

"Don't you dare get yourself hurt" Alex turned to her and saw Stevie's stern features.

"I like dares" her features melted into her trade mark smirk.  
>"Don't" Alex slapped her arm, both women grinned gingerly.<p>

Stevie rolled onto her side, so their bodies were flushed against each others.

The Detective kissed Alex softly, she knew she said she wanted to wait until it was over, but that wouldn't be a bet she was willing to take.

Alex tangled her fingers into Stevie's hair and pressed their contact further. Stevie slunk her hands under Alex's shirt, her fingers rose the hem and Alex arched her back as her lovers hands roamed her skin, over the material of her bra back down. A blush infected Alex's cheeks.

"Al" Stevie purred into her ear and kissed a trail down her neck, softly planting the kisses, acting like they would grow if tended to but a tiny nip.

Alex melted under her.

Wrapping her legs around Stevie's hips, she connected their lips in a slow, paced kisses, a dance of tongues and tiny sucks to their lips in flirty teases.

"Hmm" Alex responded in low moan as Stevie lifted her shirt above her head.

Stevie soon made it fare by peeling off her own t-shirt. Their bodies collapsed into each other, their heaving chests, brushing beasts and kisses fed their lust.

Stevie peered down at Alex, her bruises had nearly vanished, but small yellow blobs some with thin purple crescents still sat around there perimeters.

"I'll make it better" Stevie whispered against Alex's skin and trailed her lips down to her hips where one of the many bruises lay. Stevie ran her lips against them, not kissing them, but letting her warm breath heal them in essence.

"Turn around" Stevie whispered and Alex complied. Alex lay on her stomach, her chin rested on her folded arms, she gasped in tender delight as Stevie pulled down her jeans all the way down until they lay on the floor.

Stevie brushed her lips over all the bruises on Alex's back, whispering admiration into her skin.

"Stevie" Alex hummed. Stevie perked her head up and slunk her body over Alex's, her breasts flushed over the skin of her back. Stevie's mouth was level with Alex's ear.

"Take your jeans off" Alex spoke the words in a breath.

Stevie complied, the swish of a zipper and the crumple of the material sounded as it hit the floor. Stevie rested her crotch atop of Alex's underwear clad rear.

"Better?"  
>"Much" Alex purred and Stevie kissed between her shoulder blades, both of her hands rested beside Alex's head.<p>

Alex kissed her left hand and turned to face Stevie, rolling her body on the her back still under Stevie.

"Please?" Alex whispered, looking up at her with large, foggy eyes.

Stevie kissed her, while running one of her hands down Alex stomach, the wizard let out a small, irritated moan as Stevie stopped her hand on her pubis bone.

Their heavy breathing was the only sound in that moment.

Alex watched Stevie as she too glanced down at where her left hand was so close to.

Stevie knew all to well, two bruises rested on Alex's upper, inner thighs.

"Baby" Alex coaxed and Stevie took the hint, the ping of elastic as she pulled down Alex's underwear.

Stevie's breath became rough as Alex decided to help her along, her slender fingers guided Stevie down.

"Oh shit" Alex gasped at the contact.

Stevie nuzzled her neck, regaining some of the passion that had been banished with apprehension.

"Shh" Stevie grinned. "Erin might hear"

They both sniggered at the fact they both held the teenage fear of being caught.

Stevie captured Alex's lips in a kiss at the moment she decided to with draw from inside her. The tips of the fingers still rested inside, Alex moaned at the pressure and ache it caused.

Alex bucked her hips in response and moaned into the kiss.

Stevie then continued to pick up a steady rhythm.

This proved to be something Alex approved of, the raven haired wizard lolled her head back and Stevie took her chance to leave a love bite on her right collar bone.

"Stevie" Alex panted, gulping down a moan that was building pressure in her throat.

Stevie felt an electric pulse hit her all over, her nerves tingled with the knowledge she was soon going to take Alex over the edge.

Alex began to rock her hips, meeting Stevie's rhythm.

"Stev...uhh"

Alex bit her tongue and wrapped her hands around Stevie's back, clinging onto her like she was about to be taken away.

"Shit" Stevie hissed as she felt Alex's grip tighten, it became more desperate, it became urgent.  
>Their bodies were illuminated by the moon glistening through the window, giving their moulded bodies a ghostly, fleshy shine.<p>

Alex buried her head into the crook of Stevie's neck.

Stevie gasped when she felt Alex contract around her fingers tightly, tighter than before, when Alex gave a soft whimper and a liquid coated Stevie's fingers, she knew they'd done it.

Alex clung to the Detective panting, her eyes still screwed shut.

"That was..." Stevie withdrew from her, making the wizard give a tiny sigh.

"Wonderful" Alex kissed Stevie holding both sides of her face so she had the dominance to control it.

Alex's limbs soon felt like dead weights, her hammering heart willed her to sleep.

Stevie pulled the sheets over them with the rustle of settling limbs.

"Night" Stevie kissed Alex softly on the forehead and cuddled up to her, holding the raven haired woman to her, she listened to Alex's soon shallow breathing.

Stevie nuzzled her neck, before slipping into a easy sleep along with her.

The buzz of her phone, clattering against the wood of the floor stirred Stevie an hour later. Groggy and weary, the Detective crawled from Alex's side and leant down to grab the device.

It violently buzzed in her sleepy grasp.

"Nichols"

"_So you're awake_"

Stevie looked around the darkness of the room, alert, her stomach twisted. She didn't answer him.

"_I do enjoy the moon light, it's pretty isn't it, funny to think it's just a rock. Hmmm_"

Stevie slid her jeans on while he spoke.

"_I'm waiting for you... I'm sure you remember where we first met_"

"No I don't" she hissed.

"_I've led your little friends to a warehouse, I'm sure you knew it was just a trail, yes, yes you did smart girl... I want to you follow the body trail_"

Stevie froze.

"You've killed more people?"

"_Smart, smart girl, you're brighter than that_"

The call disconnected, Stevie was left still pressing the phone to her ear.

She blinked away sleep from her eyes, still numb from sleep, but poisoned by his slick voice, she doubled over breathless.

She pulled on her t-shirt, the cotton seemed harsh, like her skin had been striped away with a fever.

Glancing back at Alex, nested under the sheets, she gave a small yawn in her slumber and buried her head into the pillow.

Stevie watched over her with pained eyes.

She'd left her gun down stairs, along with her shoes. Stevie glanced at her saber. She nodded as if addressing it and grabbed it. She then grabbed her leather jacket from the hook on the back of her door, the battered cherry red leather felt like an old friend in her hands. She pulled the strap of the scabbard around her, then pulled on her jacket over it, to disuse it, apart from the handle protruding from the neck of her jacket.

She slipped from the room like a ghost in the moon light and crept out to the hallway, then slunk downstairs.

Erin stepped from her room abruptly.

"And where do you think you're going?"

Stevie jumped and span around, clinging to the banister to refrain from letting her body fall.

_Of course she'd be up... she's like a frikin' owl. _

"Sifu" Stevie whispered, her breath still short from her unnecessary surprise. "I have to do this"

"Not now"

"Yes, now" Stevie continued to walk down the stairs and reached the bottom step with a loud creak before Erin spoke again.

"Give yourself time"

"I'd like that, but I want to get him before he hurts anyone else to get to me" Stevie grabbed her belt from the side table, looped her gun holster around it with a sharp click and tightened the belt. She slid her phone into her back pocket.

"He wants you to do this" Erin snapped, still stood like a angry child at the top of the stairs.

"Then I'll let him have the pleasure before I kill him" Stevie slipped her converse on and stood by the front door.

"Do you even know where he is?" Erin growled, her wise eyes narrowed.

"No"

"Then how do you know where you're going?" Erin knew how Stevie was driven, it was impulse that she would use to find him.

"He always leaves me with something" Stevie felt the scar, the mark twinge under her skin and in the muscle.


	17. Chapter 17

**Let the action begin. **

* * *

><p><em>Body trail. <em>

The thought washed around Stevie's mind as she drove through the city. All the buildings melted into the dark, shrouded by the drizzle of rain. So much for a warm summer.

Every street lamp seemed too bright, every passing car seemed too loud. The windscreen wipers screeched across the screen, smearing the water across.

The guilt of leaving Alex behind strangled her, it choked her conscience with a noose.

Alex had looked at peace, lay in bed, her sleeping body unaware of Stevie's absence.

Stevie gritted her teeth and pressed her car to do fifty.

The wheels splashed through the the growing puddles and made a wet ripping sound against the tarmac.

The Volkswagen made a rumble and complied to her demand.

"Body trail" Stevie spoke to herself. Once in the open, the words floated around. She pulled up outside the WPD building, it looked like any police head quarters, although spells were used to repel the mortals, it appeared derelict to them.

Stevie got out of her car and ran over to the door, pushing it open she practically stumbled into the building.

"Nichols? What the hell?" Jace, the resident fifty-nine year old security guard, ex-cop glared at her from behind his desk, aiming a gun at her.

"Chill"Stevie held up her hands, frowning at him.

"I'm only gonna chill when I'm dead" he huffed and withdrew his weapon. "What you doin' here?"

"Unfinished business" Stevie knew the elevators would be out at this time of night, she'd have to take the stairwell.

"Sounds like something bad"

Stevie looked at him.

"I'm gonna make it right"

"Eh, what do you girls say these days... eh, _you go Girl!_" the man pumped his fist in the air. Stevie gave a bemused smirk.

She looked at the straining cotton of his patrol uniform.

_He has the man boobs to actually pull of the phrase._

"Yeah, _sure_ that's what I say _all_ the time Jace..." Stevie jogged over to the stairwell, the sooner she disappeared from his view the sooner she could laugh about his assumption.

The clank of the door opening echoed up the cement walls, Stevie began to run the four flights to her department.

The sound of her laboured breath and sluggish footsteps filled the space, the stuffy, damp smell around her didn't calm her.

Reaching the fourth floor in record time she pushed open the door and walked out the empty floor.

Running over to her desk, she spotted the case file.

"Body trail... body trail" she chanted the words under her breath and flicked through the stapled pages, pushing past collected sheets and tags.

"Hank... Addison" Stevie sat down to catch her breath, the clank of her saber soon reminded her of the task ahead with a looming weight.

Her desk lamp light the dark room.

"Yeah" Stevie soon noticed the pattern, Hank and Addison had both been found in alleys that much was clear but it was the addresses that got to her.

They both added up to a real address, just across town, a twenty minuet walk if that.

"He's been hiding under my nose" Stevie switched the lamp off and took off.

Once the door slammed shut and the room was plunged into darkness, the flash of white, pearly

teeth shone in the far corner of the room.

The glint of grey eyes and the whistle of a content chase.

New York hummed with fading night life, drunks and stoners peeled themselves from walls, the neon lights of porn shops and tabbaco corner stores all glittered in trashy glamour in the puddles.

Stevie's damp hair clung to her almost skeletal features as she walked through the streets, her badge glinted.

"Hey, darlin'" a slur called out in the damp air. A greasy, drunken business man stumbled from a bar to her right. Stevie kept on walking, her converse had soaked in half of all the puddles she'd stepped in.

"Where's a little girl like you goin' this time a night"

Stevie heard his heavy, garish breath, his hobbling footsteps.

She picked up her speed, refraining from turning around and punching him.

"I say, you come home with me, I'll show you a good time"

Stevie gritted her teeth and turned to him.

He chuckled, his voice thick with alcohol.

"A good time?" Stevie put on a sweet accent.

He lumbered over to her, stood just a few inches from her face he towered above her, his beefy body wobbling.

"Karl is gonna be lovin' you tonight" his third person slur cut through the air.

Stevie chuckled and looked down at the floor for a brief second.

"_Loving_" her voice trailed off. A second party drunk stumbled behind her and grabbed her ass.

"Who's hand is on my ass?" Stevie growled and grabbed the offending hand. She twisted their wrist.

"Ow shit lady you're hurtin' me" a gritty yelp sounded and Stevie twisted his arm around his back in one swift move and he doubled over.

The first drunk stumbled back.

"Whoa, this bitch is crazy" he called out to no one.

"Ow, ow, let go of me you dyke" the second drunk spluttered and squirmed, the pain made his twisted limb throb.

"Aw" Stevie elbowed him in the neck with her right arm, he collapsed the pavement with a loud, thud.

The first drunk, was apparently riled by her attack and lurched forward to her.

Stevie drew her gun and pointed it at his head.

"It's Detective dyke to you bastards" Stevie spat and fired a bullet into the air, both men stumbled away, their clouded minds terrified.

She chuckled contently and clipped her gun back.

Stevie decided to run the rest of the way, her adrenalin pumped limbs needed to let off steam.

Stevie reached her destination with ease, her pounding heart slowed as she stopped dead in front of old, boarded up store.

Stevie felt her limbs numb, he was here.

She looked around the side of the store, the alley looked promising for an easy entrance.

The mesh fence that kept the prying likes of youths and hobos away was a common obstacle she'd come across too many times in her life.

Stevie vaulted the fence with the clank of mesh. Dropping to the other side with elegance, she pulled her torch from her belt, the white light illuminated the alleys brick walls and dumpster.

A small rusting metal side door was slamming open and closed in the tiny breeze.

An open invitation from her boogie man.

He wasn't under her bed, he wasn't in her closet, he was real and he was waiting.

Stevie closed her eyes and drew a shaky breath.

_Find him, corner him, kill him, get out. _

The plan was blunt but it worked.

She rolled her shoulders and slipped into the store.

Stevie moved to the centre of the gloomy space, she looked around the room with unease. She stood on bare linoleum floor, cracked and yellow from age her weight made it crackle.

The built in cashier was the only hint that this was ever a store.

The walls were damp, the wall paper hung off and in some parts had air bubbles. The bare parts of the wall had black specks of mould.

Stevie turned towards the back of the store, the old wood door had peeling letters reading _STAFF. _

Her foot steps echoed around the empty space, her damp clothes made the chill on her bones more notifiable.

Stevie pushed the door, it creaked and her left hand roamed along the wall to find the light switch. She flipped the switch once her found it, a single bulb sparked and light the room. Boxes filled the room, dusty and stacked.

The dim light cast shadows.

Demons circled the place, Stevie walked through her room and came to a cellar door, the metal had been painted green, but since then it had flaked off.

The lock was broken.

Stevie knew this was where he hid.

She leant over to pull the doors open, her arms tensed as she tugged at the heavy metal. The doors groaned, under their screech, Stevie didn't hear the approaching footsteps, the heavy breaths, the shift of weight.

She was oblivious.

"Smart girl"

Stevie span around, but it was too late, the base ball bat the attacker had been carrying collided with her right cheek, the sharp pain soon subsided into a numb ache in a matter of seconds.

Stevie fell heavily on to the metal doors, her body slammed down with a heavy thud. Stevie looked up, pain split her vision.

Urgently she tried to get up, her limbs were drunk at her desperate commands.

"Sleep" the ice of his voice was next to her ear, his hand slunk over her mouth, his scaly skin smothered her and the pressure of a needle breaking the skin of her neck shocked her.

She writhed, bit at his palm, but with the effort, she wore herself.

A black fog hung over her vision, a black smog closed in, a buzz infested her ears, his voice penetrated the buzz but it seemed distant, a lullaby.

She tried to press a scream, but no sound came out even under his smothering grasp.

All feeling vanished from her writhing limbs, they were as useful to her as wooden slats.

A glitter invaded her vision.

_Wake up, wake up, wake up!_

Her last thoughts before she fell unconscious in his arms.


	18. Chapter 18

_Thirsty._

Stevie tried to swallow, but her throat was parched, her tongue dry as old leather against the barren roof of her mouth.

Slowly, Stevie began to register other sensations that her body possessed.

The ache in her back from being sat up, her tingling in her limbs, the pain in her cheek.

The chill of the air around her, the scuttle of tiny paws next to her ear, the scratching, the gnawing.

Stevie felt a rush of panic at the sound, her skin was on fire and she scuffled away, grunting at her limbs wouldn't respond in the way she wanted, in the way she _needed_ them to.

The grey gritty dust of the floor made her presence know to the rat and it ran away, tiny paws and long tail dragged across the the hash texture.

Stevie squirmed, her wrists were bound.

Duct tape.

The unyielding resistance made her skin raw.

The chill of the room passed through her clothes.

Stevie gritted her teeth, she felt the copper of blood in her mouth.

The absence of her gun and torch on her belt wounded her plan to defend herself.

Yet, the scabbard holding her sword still remained hidden under her jacket.

The slither of moon light travelling though a broken window above her, lit her conscious frame.

The rain had stopped, but the sounds of New York still drifted to her.

_Gotta get out. _

Stevie searched the space around her, her eyes franticly tried to adjust to the darkness that lay around her, she could only look down and just see the out line of her own legs.

She suddenly froze.

Someone else was in the room, breathing.

"So you're awake" the sudden sound of foot steps crunched upon the gritty concrete.

Stevie didn't respond, she hadn't the voice to.

The kiss of hot breath washed against Stevie's face with a vengeance, she looked away, the tang of a recent cigarette clung to his lips.

She'd stopped the habit herself, it proved easy when she had people to distract her.

_Alex. _

Above the beating of her heart, his voice coiled around her.

"Smart, smart girl" he whispered. "I can smell her, on your hands"

Stevie tried to gulp again, but no saliva was offered.

"You wreak of _sex_"

Stevie closed her eyes tightly and remained still, movement would provoke him.

"I love it"

She opened her eyes to witness the glint of a blade. His foot steps halted to the right of her, his clothes made a crisp swish, signalling he was now crouching, knees bent out as if he were a frog.

He stroked the side of the blade across her face, the cold flat metal did nothing but sent a jolt of panic into her heart.

Stevie began to struggle.

"Yeah, yeah, struggle" he whispered, she was pleasing him. "Come on baby, uh"

Stevie stopped and tensed.

_Get out, distract him, get out. _

As much as she wanted to cry out, she refrained.

"I never guessed" he stood back up. "You'd be into women" he rolled his shoulders, his voice a slither through the dark. "Did she scream your name?"

He leant back down and pressed his lips to her ear.

"_Stevie_" he snapped his teeth, Stevie grunted, the only sound she could produce to vent her fear.

"Playing hard to get?" another snap of his teeth.

Stevie yelped as he tugged on the front of her shirt, plucking her up from her position and slamming her back against the wall. The casing of her scabbard dug into her spine.

"I want you to call out my name" he hissed, licking her jaw line. Stevie kicked and struggled, battering her legs against the wall with a frantic thuds.

"Come on baby" he pressed his body a flush against hers, she whimpered as he crushed his lips against hers.

She tried to kick him off, but her legs just hung.

He ran his hand up her shirt, the rough skin of his fingers grazed her skin like fire.

"UH" Stevie moaned out in frustration, her skin beading with a cold sweat.

He pulled up her shirt then let her drop to the floor, her right hip collided with the concrete.

Stevie cried out as pain infested the right side of her body.

"Good girl" his voice loomed over her.

Stevie panted, easing away the ache when she felt a nip at her skin then felt it break.

Stevie arched her back in pain as his knife cut into her stomach, the chill of the blade was warmed with her blood as it rose to the surface of the thin line.

It was meant to leave a mark, an ugly scar upon her body.

"Fuck" she hissed out through gritted teeth and writhed as she felt her blood steam and soil her skin.

"I will" he chuckled and drew his blade higher and slit more of her skin open. Stevie's skull numbed, the pain receptors were on over time, it clouded her thoughts, it disorientated her.

_Don't let him win. _

Stevie groaned, hating her own determination, her body felt heavy, as he retracted his blade, Stevie felt the impending urge to sleep.

He soon walked back and the feeling of grains skittering against her skin was forgine until they rained on her wounds, her bloody flesh.

Salt.

Stevie cried out, her horse vocals pierced the damp air.

_Maybe I should just let him_.

_It'll be over faster. _

Stevie was left panting, her chest heaving and blood graced her skin.

The attacker moved away, stepping back to watch.

Stevie pressed her face into the floor, the cold didn't seem so harsh.

_Think of her._

Stevie blinked away tears and panted.

_Think of Alex, she'll wake up and you won't be there becouse you gave up. It's your own stupid fault that your here like this, fight back, win, kill and get the fuck out. _

_GET OUT. _

_GET OUT FOR HER. _

Stevie rose her head and forced her eyes to search for him again.

The numbing collision of foot upon bone broke her search.

Stevie's breath was cut short, her ribs ached and she curled into the fetal position, she winced when she felt the split skin on her stomach pinch open.

Another kick, this time to her face sent her body rolling, her jacket was shredded at the arms, the leather had small grains of grit embedded in the material.

Her left cheek had taken the impact of the kick, she spat out a wad of blood onto the floor.

Her bruised hip had collided with the concrete first, she gasped, breathing heavily until the pain faded.

Then another kick.

The whumph of boot on her chest sounded and she cried out as she sprawled across the floor again, her face landed against the floor, her nose, lips and teeth took the impact.

Weak and sobbing, Stevie tried to sit up, she had to fight.

She had to make it.

"And there's that spirit I love" his voice chilled her pain, the urgency of trying to get away from his presence motivated her.

Sweat claimed her skin, tears of frustration and hatred salted the open wounds on her face.

Stevie tried to squirm into a kneeling position.

Her knees, although numb supplied her with balance as she now was up right, kneeling but at least she regained some strength.

"Come on girly FIGHT!" he screamed out, his cackle made the hairs at the back of her neck stand.

He stood over her.

"Why?" she panted, then looked up to face his grey glare. "Why" _pant _"Should I" _pant _"Fight you?".

He was silent.

"You've already won, you've got me, so why not kill me?" Stevie spat out another wad of blood, at least it gave her a liquid so swill in her once dry mouth.

"I've not won, not yet" he pushed her back down with his foot and his face caught the moon light.

His thin features, his hawk like eyes, cold with blood and lust caught her fear.

"Only when you've given me your body will I have won"

"Just to say you're powerful?" Stevie shouted out, her voice strained.

Stevie crawled back and rested on the wall, watching him with pained eyes as he sharpened his blade.

"You're unfinished business"

"How many others?"

"Girls? Ah, more than I care to imagine"

He crouched, looking at her, licking his lips, eyeing her.

"Wolves aren't supposed to _eat _people" Stevie kept him talking as she rubbed the duct tap on the side of a broken pipe.  
>"When you are born from a vampire and wolf, you inherit it" his wafted his had to dismiss the fact.<p>

She concealed a grin when she felt the tape snap, the blood flow was restored.

Stevie rose to her knees again, ignoring the pain that infested her torso, she had to focus.

_Get out. Get out. _

He strode over to her and slapped her sharply across the face.

Stevie collapsed to the floor once again, her skull slammed against the floor.

She let her consciousness remain for two seconds, watching as his feet moved away before giving into the pain that willed her to a bleak conclusion.


	19. Chapter 19

**So should I end it here or what? Still puzzling over it all**. _Enjoy_.

The distant call of her name made Stevie suddenly aware that she was still trapped. It wasn't her attacker voice, it was worried and searching.

Her mind had roamed far from the brick walls, it had taken her far from pain, far from the threat that loomed.

She'd been with Alex, just sat talking about them, about a future that seemed so bright.

The voice had broken her dream.

Reality was a bitch.

Stevie listened through the darkness, silence.

He was gone.

Alas, she remained, panting and seething while her body ached.

The blood had crusted over the wounds on her stomach, the pain there had subsided.

Stevie still heard nothing but her own thumping heart.

She rose to her feet, but dizziness sent her staggering blindly forward. Stevie lurched her body backwards and rested her back on the wall, her skull throbbed and split her orientation into fragments.

The haunting the lasting effect of the drug he'd used to sedate her left her weak, but not unable to try and fight again.

Unsteady as a new born foal, Stevie followed the wall shakily walking to the cellar door which was left ajar, sending a slither of light down.

A gun shot made her halt, her chin snapped up, she was alert.

Was he using her weapon? Or was it that of her rescuers?

Stevie crawled up the steps and pushed the door open with a loud whine of it's hinges.

The dim light of the store room was there to greet her.

_Get out, get out now. _

Stevie walked slowly, careful and tense not to make a sound.

Then another shot split the air on the other side of the door shouts soon followed, then silence.

It unnerved her.

Stevie then felt the weight of the scabbard on her back.

It was designed for combat.

Stevie reached for the handle, the sword sang with a lethal elegance as it was freed.

She held it steadily, pushing aside the fact her body was attempting to reject any movement. She went against it's wishes and limped to the door.

She pushed it open to be greeted with a bright light shinning in her eyes, she winced and turned away, blinking.

"Nichols!" Dean's voice travelled in a whisper, he then pressed his fingers to his lips. He had witnessed the state of her in an instant, it was anger that now fuelled the Detective to kill the bastard that harmed his partner.

That's when Stevie knew, her attacker was hiding in the dark.

Why wouldn't he? It was his home.

Her hands were slick with sweat as she crossed the room and joined Dean.

Back to back they stood still and silent.

Dean shone his light around the room, hoping to catch him in it's glare.

"Dean, fucking quit it" Stevie hissed and snagged the torch from his hands then flicked it off.

The room was plunged into a black abyss.

This is how they'd catch him.

Stevie listened, not for noise, but for the breathing of a third party. She stepped away from Dean and slid her blade back into it's scabbard.

The bastard had her gun.

"Nichols, what are you..."  
>Stevie sprung first.<p>

One leap and her foot collided with a solid thud into her attacker's sternum.

Stevie tumbled back, she caught her self. Her body was telling her no. Dean yelled out and pointed his gun wildly, he'd gone again. Dean then felt something tackle him, a force that sent him sprawling to the other side of the room, the heavy thud of his body and the crunching lino alerted Stevie.

Doubled over panting, she tried to regain a sense of stability.

From nowhere her attacker rushed at her, this sudden movement sent the pair crashing to the floor in a flail of limbs.

Dean lay gasping, wheezing a few feet away, in a heap next to the cashier.

Fury possessed the attacker, he rolled atop of Stevie, effectively immobilising her with his weight.

Pain hindered her once more, it landed her in a calamity she struggled to escape.

As fierce as her attempts to get him off her, he had already unzipped his trousers. With the sound of tearing jean and pained, desperate grunts, Stevie finally realised she'd lost.

"Dean!" Stevie yelled out, but her partner didn't respond.

The attackers lustful moans filled the space, crawled along her skin, he tugged her torn jeans half way down her thighs and rested his arousal on her crotch.

"No" Stevie gasped and felt his slender, creeping fingers pull down the hem of her underwear.

_Never is a man more vunrable to attack. _

Stevie grunted as the sound of his own underwear being pulled down sickened her.

"_Dean_!" she managed to rasp, he was so close. "Dean!"

Stevie yelped as her attacker rolled off her, shaking she crawled away.

Dean had the guy in a head lock, strangling him.

"Ha" Stevie pressed her back against the wall. "You've been holding out on me Bruce Lee" she gave a shaky chuckle, but the concerns of her wounds lay ahead, he'd been about to rape her... so close.

Dean huffed a small laugh before kicking her attacker to the floor.

He pointed his gun at the man's head.

Stevie watched the scene fade from her vision, until a scream split the air.

"Dean?" she yelled out, the hammering of foot steps and the slam of the door snapped her attention up.

Wrenching her body up, her foot hit something.

Her gun.

Stevie grabbed it and ran to the door, limping every few steps, hot to hinder his escape. Dean lay, cradling his arm, a fleshy wound rested glinting with blood on his left bicep.

Stevie pushed her self, her muscles, every cell in her body screamed no, her wounds begged her but she had to get him.

Stevie reached the mesh fence just as he vaulted over. She sprinted to the fence, sheer adrenaline sent her up and over with the rattle of the mesh crying in the night.

The impact of her shoes hitting the pavement pounded up to her shins, the pain made her stumble forward, she regained her footing and darted after him.

"Freeze!" she drew her weapon still running, every step pound of her foot against the tarmac sent her into a state of nausea, her head span like the world around her was a carousel. Fuelled by instinct, a short cut seemed necessary.

Stevie leapt heavily onto one of the parked cars, her foot hit the hood and she sprinted across the roof of it, catching the lamp post by it's side, she swung. The moment she deified gravity by soaring in a flailing mess through the air, her foot collided with his jaw and they fell in a heap on the tar-mac. Stevie rolled onto his writhing body, she pinned his arms behind his back and pointed her gun at his head.

"Don't fucking move" Stevie cried and felt relief wash over her bruised limbs. The distant sound of sirens soothed her, they gave her reassurance that it was over. The glow of red and blue lights over the light of dawn was a picture she'd always want to return to.

As wizard officers popped up around her in smoke, she smiled, her split top lip stung but she didn't care, she was safe.

"Holy shit! Nichols!" one of them shouted, but she didn't care, she let go of her consciousness and collapsed by her attackers side, her clothes soaked in the damp street pavement. The other officers soon had him restrained.

Their rushed shouts were all but distant, all but faded as the slipped from the world.

_Let in the day, after a dark night  
>I hear your name in the wind, I see your eyes but not mine<br>I wash my hands of the sin in the waters of time  
>for what I'd give for a moment of peace, and may I rest in it<br>no more strife in this life, I've been blessed with it  
>let in the day after a dark night<br>if your__still here  
>your not done dying, your not done dying. <em>


	20. Chapter 20

**I lied. **

**This story wont continue. **

**I feel like it wont go anywhere.**

**Thank you to everyone who has read this and I enjoyed writing it, up to a point. **

**Until my next fic, bye. **


	21. NOTE

After forgeting my Livejournal account, I soon turned to tumblr

If you want more stuff about my FanFiction, plots and up coming fics, please, visit my profile and click on the Tumblr url (the writing one)

Thanks and I hope to hear from you guys.


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